The software package known as SHAPE (Shape Software 521 Hidden Valley Road, …
The software package known as SHAPE (Shape Software 521 Hidden Valley Road, Kingsport, TN 37663) provides an excellent method for accurately drawing crystals. The following three boxes describe the basic steps involved in using SHAPE. Refer to these instructions when completing the exercises.
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The intent is to provide a map-based framework, complete with animations showing …
The intent is to provide a map-based framework, complete with animations showing the geologic evolution of the area to be visited, so that students can then better appreciate the observations made at the various stops along the way and see how they each relate to the other and the big picture.
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In order to be able to undertake this assignment, students will not …
In order to be able to undertake this assignment, students will not only have to follow and interact in class but also read and understand papers at home. After a first simple question on the tectonic style of the mountain range students will have to apply what they learn from the paper from DeCelles and Giles (1996) and Graham et al. (1986), assigned to read as homework, to answer the first set of examples. Consequently, I have developed a second-part exercise designed to help students understand the relationship between source and sediments; they will use data provided in the exercise to constrain the rates and patterns of source exhumation. In order to answer the second-part exercise students will have to read a suite of papers on detrital thermochronology (Bernet et al., 2002; Carrapa et al., 2003); this will enhance their capability of independently assess complex scientific issues. They will also have to apply simple equations to calculate the rate of source exhumation (through the concept of lag time).
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This assignment is meant to illustrate how the advection of heat by …
This assignment is meant to illustrate how the advection of heat by groundwater leads to the elevated temperatures at shallow sedimentary basin margins at which Mississippi Valley-type Zn-Pb hydrothermal ore deposits are formed. The assignment is based on analytical solutions for groundwater flow and heat transport published by Domenico & Palciauskas (1973). Students use a spreadsheet to calculate and plot the flow field and temperature in a sedimentary basin, and to investigate the conditions needed to produce ore-forming temperatures. These results have further implications for the length of time available for ore formation and the concentration of metals and pH of the groundwater, which are also explored in the assignment. The assignment provides an example of how groundwater plays a fundamental role in an important geologic process in the Earth's crust. The activity also shows the linkages of hydrology to other disciplines such as heat transport, geochemistry, and economic geology.
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An interactive powerpoint presentation walks students step-by-step through the process of generating …
An interactive powerpoint presentation walks students step-by-step through the process of generating a Korjinski diagram for the system K20-Al2O3-SiO2. Students will use the triangular diagram from the previous exercise to determine which minerals have stability boundaries on the diagram. A second tutorial explains how to plot a natural water composition on the diagram. A Word document provides the thermodynamic data and instructions necessary to create their own diagram for the Ca0-MgO-SiO2 system. An answer key is also provided.
An interactive powerpoint presentation walks students step-by-step through the process of generating …
An interactive powerpoint presentation walks students step-by-step through the process of generating a triangular diagram for the system K2O-Al2O3-SiO2. A Word document provides the thermodynamic data and instructions necessary to create their own diagram for the CaO-MgO-SiO2 system. An answer key is also provided. Students will: - Calculate mineral compositions in mole percent and plot on a triangular diagram. - Determine which is the stable mineral at the apices. - Draw in all possible tie-lines connecting coexisting minerals. - Eliminate unstable collinear phases. - Eliminate crossing tie-lines. - Determine stable mineral assemblages for bulk-rock compositions provided.
A quantitative skills-intensive exercise using data from the Mineral Mountains, Utah, to …
A quantitative skills-intensive exercise using data from the Mineral Mountains, Utah, to calculate mass balance and to address the "space problem" involved with emplacing plutons into the crust.
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This lesson has students predict what the planet will look like 200 …
This lesson has students predict what the planet will look like 200 million years from today. Students will utilize a map of current plate boundaries with direction and speed of movement. Students will predict the future look of our planet based on their prior knowledge of plate boundaries and utilizing current rate of movement and direction for plate movements.
Chandra Garcia uses continent-shaped puzzle pieces to teach her students about continental …
Chandra Garcia uses continent-shaped puzzle pieces to teach her students about continental drift. Working in small groups and using fossil evidence, students must work cooperatively and find consensus among themselves to build their arguments.
This activity from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific asks students to …
This activity from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific asks students to compress all of time (from the Big Bang until now) into one year. First, they have to pick major events (younger students can be given them) - this can lead to lively discussion! You can certainly be adaptable here. Second, the best thing to do is have the students guess where each event should be on the Cosmic Calendar. Third, have them look up or be given the actual time period when the event occurred. Fourth, have them calculate (or be given) the "date" on the Cosmic Calendar. Fifth, discuss! Debate! Reflect!
Files cannot be uploaded as they are copyrighted but they are easily found and freely available. Authors: Therese Puyau Blanchard, Andrew Fraknoi, and the staff of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific URL: http://www.astrosociety.org/edu/astro/act2/H2_Cosmic_Calendar.pdf
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Students are given two questions for each concept, in which they must …
Students are given two questions for each concept, in which they must (1) calculate the composition of minerals in weight percent given relative proportions of given end members and (2) calculate mole percentages for feldspars based on their mineral analyses (provided).
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This lab focuses on the identification of impact features, and how they …
This lab focuses on the identification of impact features, and how they can used to estimate the age of planetary surfaces. Key comcepts include understanding how the crater process has changed over geologic time; how those changes manifest themselves in the surficial record of planetary landforms; how other planetary processes modify surficial landforms; how the conditions of the Solar System have changed over time.
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In this activity, learners use crayons to draw conclusions about rocks and …
In this activity, learners use crayons to draw conclusions about rocks and the rock cycle. Learners form crayons ((which can be "weathered"--heated, compressed and cooled--like rocks) into models of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks.
In this OLogy activity, kids learn how a compass works and why …
In this OLogy activity, kids learn how a compass works and why it will always point north. The activity begins with an overview that discusses our reliance on directions and how a compass works. Students are then given step-by-step, illustrated directions for creating a compass with a sewing needle, a small bar magnet, a small piece of foam, and other household items. The activity includes ideas about how to try out your compass.
Student groups create blogs or VoiceThreads on selected natural disaster events including …
Student groups create blogs or VoiceThreads on selected natural disaster events including a description of the event, the cause of the disaster, response & recovery, prediction & prevention and resilience to the event.
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The goal of this virtual field trip to Iridium Hill, Montana is …
The goal of this virtual field trip to Iridium Hill, Montana is to investigate the disappearance of dinosaur fossils above the Cretaceous/ Tertiary boundary. The site provides rock outcrop photos of Cretaceous and Tertiary strata (Hell Creek and Fort Union Formations), stratigraphic sections and supporting text for this classic iridium-bearing locality. Topics include the K/T boundary, iridium concentrations, stratigraphy, sedimentology and, fluvial and lacustrine depositional environments.
Students receive a "Dear Colleague" letter requesting the review of a journal …
Students receive a "Dear Colleague" letter requesting the review of a journal article in the same format as would be received from an Assistant Editor of a major scholarly journal. The letter outlines the requirements of the review and the due date. Students also receive the review forms typically provided by a given journal (I've provided forms from the Geological Society of America Bulletin and American Mineralogist for use in an upper division course in Mineralogy, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. The GSA Bulletin form is better suited for manuscripts that report on articles that have a significant field or tectonic component; the American Mineralogist form is better suited for articles that focus on more analytical, theoretical, or computational applications in mineralogy and petrology.
In an upper division petrology class, I typically select articles for review that integrate numerous aspects of topics we've recently covered in class; tectonic setting, field relations, petrography, whole-rock geochemistry, geo- and thermochronology, mineral chemistry (for PTt calculations), stable isotope geochemistry, etc. My goal is to help students see how these multiple lines of evidence must be integrated into a coherent geologic interpretation of geologic process or history.
Modify the letter with the request for review and review forms to emphasize the particular course goals, content, and expectations for your own course.
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