Each week, from weeks 2 to 13, there will be an online multiple choice quiz. You will be required to complete at least seven of these (you can do more, in which case the seven highest scores will count towards the final grade). Each quiz will be worth 3% of your total grade. The quizzes will be based on the lecture, tutorial material and recommended readings for the lectures preceding the quiz. Quizzes will take < 1 hour each to complete and are designed to help you keep up with lecture material, identify where you need help or clarification and ensure that you develop a solid knowledge of the concepts introduced throughout this unit. Quizzes will ‘open’ on Tuesday mornings and remain open for a fortnight. No extensions will be given. Note that as questions will be randomly selected from an available pool, it is likely that students will receive different questions to one another.

The ability to identify scientifically sound information on climate change and to communicate this to others is a prerequisite for advocacy, action and environmental literacy. Most weeks will have a one-hour class discussion, centred around the topic of that week. In week 2, students will be required to select two or more topics for which they would like to lead the discussion. The student(s) leading the discussion for a given week will be required to give a short (10 minute) informal talk about the topic, and facilitate a deeper discussion that all students are required to prepare for and participate in. More detailed information on this assessment and participation in general will be provided in week 1, and student-led discussions will begin in week 3.

As part of this unit, we will develop a website that can be used by members of the public to explore climate change impacts and adaptation in Australia. Each year, subsequent classes will add to the website. This activity will require that you identify a system that has already been impacted by climate change (either positively or negatively). You will then develop a summary, infographic and a more detailed 1000-word report for the system, outlining the impacts to date, future potential impacts and options to facilitate adaptation. You are strongly encouraged to make use of CC-0 images and graphs in the report, to aid with communication to a lay audience. All work must be backed by scientific evidence, with the report appropriately referenced. The report will also need to be uploaded through turnitin. Examples of potential systems to explore include, but are not limited to: loss of Gondwanan rainforest in Tasmania; Mangrove dieback in the Northern Territory; extreme temperature-driven mortality of wildlife; impacts of climate change on wine grapes; shifts to the timing of bird migration; shifts in bushfire frequency; increases in heat-related morbidity and mortality of humans; climate impacts on the NSW dairy industry).

Adaptation assessments are useful tools to identify actions that can be undertaken now or in the near future to anticipate the impacts of climate change and reduce vulnerability. For this assessment, you will select an area of interest (different to that which formed the basis of the impacts and adaptation website assessment) and follow one of several formats to develop an Adaptation Plan. You may select, for example, a major National Park or UNESCO World Heritage Area, a suburb or town, an industry in a given area (horticulture in the Hunter Valley; fisheries along the south-east coast), a health-related issue (rural Indigenous health; asthma), and so on. All topics must be selected in consultation with the unit convenor. The assessment will be approximately 3000 words in length.