Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students build a spreadsheet to examine from a dataset the relation between oxygen isotopes in corals and the temperature of surrounding seawater.

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Students will use the available bathymetric datasets to test the utility of a flexural rigidity model of oceanic crust.

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This is one component of the Source to Sink Mini Lesson Set
Continental margins are phenomenal places to study the modern sedimentary cycle because sediment in margin regions has been routed from mountains (source) through river systems to the sea (sink); in some cases, sediment has continued across continental shelves and been delivered to the deep sea. The goal of this mini-lesson is to let students explore the characteristics of some key regions in the modern sedimentary cycle to identify and relate the variables that control source-to-sink systems. Which areas are eroding most rapidly and why? Which systems are responsible for the most rapid transfer of sediments from continents to the oceans? How do the characteristics of river systems affect the properties of the sediments they discharge? How can we apply our knowledge of these modern source-to-sink systems to the ancient sedimentary rock record?

This exercise is a practical application of optical mineralogy involving identification of some asbestiform minerals. First, students learn about asbestos and its various forms and are posed several related questions. Then, they look at several asbestos grain mounts under a petrographic microscope and answer more related questions.

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This activity uses figures from Francois Brisse as Esher drawings to teach students about 2-dimensional symmetry, especially involving translation.
This exercise is based on discovery learning. Students need little introduction to lattices and space groups. They can figure things out for themselves. For example, they will figure out what a glide plane is, and if you tell them ahead of time it takes away from the learning experience. The last question, which asks them to make their own symmetrical drawings, is difficult but often leads to some spectacular results.

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This activity is a classroom and field activity in which students record observations of birds in their natural habitat and make connections between the structure and function of the bird feet.

The first seven labs in this course are simply a survey of skeletal morphology in vertebrate animals; this is the first lab of the course that actually applies this understanding to solving a scientific problem. Students measure isolated skeletal elements of vertebrates in order to quantify the differences among members of different locomotor groups. They're asked to formulate hypotheses based on an understanding of physics for the differences among the locomotor categories they're examining, and then they compare their data to those expectations. The activity allows students to understand how paleontologists interpret skeletal morphology to make inferences about the ecology of extinct organisms. This will enable the students to apply their knowledge of skeletal morphology to answering a scientific question. The experience also gives them an opportunity to practice the process of paleontological science, including hypothesis testing and data interpretation.

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Purpose of Exercise: Provide students with an appreciation of the importance of using a rigorous scientific approach to the study of functional morphology. Students are asked to intuitively interpret the function of fossil skeletal morphologies. From this they identify a variety of genuine methodologies used in functional morphology, appreciate the importance of using multiple approaches, and realize how easy it is to generate untested hypotheses of function (i.e., adaptive storytelling).

Materials: Class breaks up into 4 groups of 4 students. Each is presented with a fossil or shell from an invertebrate animal. The shells provided: (1) modern Nautilus, sliced laterally to show the chamber walls; (2) Archimedes bryozoan, just the helically spiraled core of a colony; (3) fossil scaphopod; and (4) fossil gastropod with spines along the apertural lip. Only the group with the gastropod should know the phylogenic affinity of the fossil: tell this group the shell is of a gastropod. The groups with the Archimedes and the scaphopod are asked to interpret the function of the entire shell; they should not be told whether or not the entire skeleton is represented. The Nautilus group is asked to consider the function of the chamber walls. The group with the gastropod is asked to consider the function of just the spines.

Procedure:
1. The groups are asked, based on their intuition, to interpret the function of their shell or structure. (5 mins)
2. Without inquiring about their specific interpretations, the groups are then asked to think about what methodologies, philosophies, or logical approaches were utilized to make functional inferences. (5 mins)
3. Each group reports back.
4. On the board generate a list of the approaches identified. These should reflect many of the formal methods recognized within the discipline. Note how interpretations are tenuous or flawed when based on merely one approach; also note mistaken functions because of wrong assumptions or misapplied methods. (10 mins)
5. Follow this with a short lecture / discussion reviewing the formal methods employed in functional morphology.

The following files are uploaded as supportive teaching materials:
1. Lesson plan with the "conceptual change model" outline.

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After a short lecture, groups of students complete this Lecture Tutorial worksheet on the different
hypotheses of the function of Stegosaurus plates. The worksheet is designed so students examine
different lines of evidence, and they must choose the best interpretation(s).

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Knowing the fund structure for state and local governments is a key concept students must master early in their study of governmental accounting. In addition, students must be able to identify which fund would be used to account for various activities in which a government engages. This PowerPoint game is a drill and practice/review activity fashioned after the popular TV game show, Hollywood Squares. The celebrities in the Fund Identification Challenge are past Presidents of the United States. The Presidents have responded to a question, and the game participants either agree or disagree with the response to earn the square. The 27 real-world examples found in the game were derived by examining the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFR) of various cities.

Before this exercise, student should be briefly introduced to the concept that rocks can be deformed. I will usually show relevant images from the textbook regarding strike, dip, and basic fold geometry. In addition, I spend some time reviewing compass directions, and how to describe the orientation of a line. After the introduction, each student (or pair of students) is given a flexible piece of foam which is treated as an analog for a sedimentary bed. Students are asked to place their foam into the proper orientation, given the strike and dip measurements. Students are encouraged to help one another as the tasks become more complex.

Colorful foam sheets are used in a classroom or lab setting to help students understand the concept of strike and dip. To prepare for this exercise, students should be introduced to the basic concepts in a short lecture beforehand, and perhaps shown diagrams to give them a general idea of what the terms mean. The instructor will need to identify the N,S,E,W directions in the classroom; it is usually helpful to post sheets with this information and attach it to the walls. The students are then asked to use their sheets of foam to simulate the orientation of beds that are have a specific strike and dip. Once that has been mastered, the exercise can be expanded and students can be asked to demonstrate the trend and plunge of simple folds.

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Students are challenged to write a script and record a voicemail that is left 50 years in the future, describing changes that have taken place in the local environment based upon scientifically-accurate information and projections. The exercise allows students to select an issue of personal interest and communicate in a creative format.

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Average inquiry level: Structured
This inquiry-based lab about the principles of relative and numerical dating allows students to apply reason and logic to determine the order of geologic events, to experimentally create a radioactive decay and ingrowth diagram, and to calculate numerical ages using algebra. This lab is designed for face-to-face instruction.
By the end of lab, students will be able to:

Determine the order of geologic events using relative dating principles.
Calculate the age of rocks using numerical dating principles.
Select correctly from the range of available numerical dating tools to access Earth history at different scales and in different materials.
Explain how past events from geologic time influence the present and future.
Demonstrate numerical literacy around units, graph manipulation, and using formulas.

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Students are asked to match up lecturers with what day and time they teach, and how many students they have based on clues given from several different perspectives. In the second part of the activity, students are asked to learn more about the historic figures mentioned in the activity by doing reading and web research.

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Students must associate different dinosaur trackways with their locations and the rock formations containing the trackways based on clues given from various points of view.

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students are asked to match up students with their home state, and their states with the area and percentage of area of surface water that they contain, as well as where each of the states rank nationally in terms of water area.

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Students are asked to match up several unique fossils with the site and location where it was found and it's geologic age.

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Students are asked to match up five top Museums with 2 fossils that they have on display based on clues presented from various points of view.

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