An Evolving Course In Ecological Thermodynamics

The ecological thermodynamics course at the University of Georgia has served as a platform for developing a novel Lagrangian type ecological thermodynamics approach that mimics the statistical thermodynamics approach in that it attempts to focus on system state before and after a process. The Lagrangian approach compliments the classical process-based thermodynamic approach that focuses on the thermo-mechanical processes involved in changing a system state. The conduct of an entropy analyses has proven to be beneficial in that it provides an independent look at the energy budget. The seminar environment has proven useful for faculty and students with a non-engineering background to grasp the fundamentals of thermodynamics. The experience continues to bring to light pedagogical approaches that can be useful to making one of the most dreaded engineering science courses more palatable to engineering students.