Average inquiry level: Guided inquiry
In this laboratory exercise for introductory geology or environmental science courses, students use data to examine climate change in their local environment. They compare local changes to global data over different time scales. As an assessment, students create an infographic to demonstrate their understanding of how local climate change may affect their region and what people can do to be better prepared. This lab was originally designed for online instruction, but may be used in face-to-face instruction as well.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service describes the different kinds of sediments that make up coastlines, with a focus on the variety in color, size, and sorting.

This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service describes the many forces that affect shorelines, including tides, weathering, erosion, and deposition.

Humans have been affected by severe drought throughout history; in this lesson students explore this concept by analyzing environmental data to classify patterns and practice communicating their findings.

Students build an understanding of flooding in Colorado using multiple data sources in a jigsaw format.

Open Textbooks for Rural Arizona participants are invited to remix this template to share their courses, textbooks, and other OER material on our Hub.

Explore geological wonders, firsthand. Visit an EarthCache and learn from the rocks under your feet. An EarthCache is a special type of geocache you can visit to learn a geology lesson developed by the community. This EarthCache is located on the Columbia College campus, in Columbia, CA. After completing this EarthCache, you will learn more about the geology under your feet here.

This article discusses geologic misconceptions held by teachers and students and provides resources for formative assessment and teaching correct concepts.

Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module/Geology of National Parks course. Students study how discharge per unit area varies with elevation in the high country of Glacier National Park from USGS hydrograph data from Swiftcurrent Creek and its tributary Grinnell Creek..

Crust, mantle, core, lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesosphere, outer core, inner core. Created by Sal Khan.

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.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

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.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

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.

Think science has all the answers? Think again. This course will use real, authentic data to explore and investigate modern controversies in Earth Sciences. Use tide gauge records to understand how countries around the world attempt to protect themselves from tsunami events. Process seismic data to predict earthquake recurrence in the New Madrid seismic zone, right here in the breadbasket of the US. Sort through the millions of years of the geologic timeline to shed some light on what actually did, and did not, kill the dinosaurs. Finally, use global atmospheric data to understand how misrepresentation of data can be used to paint a distorted view of past, present, and future climate.

In this video segment, ZOOM guest Cassie takes us on a tour of the coral reef near her home in Key Largo, Florida, and points out some of its unique features.

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).

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Course outline and reading list; spreadsheet with list of readings by topic with licensing info for each.

Course Description:
Covers environmental topics that are primarily geological in nature. Includes geology basics, soil resources, hydrogeology, nonrenewable mineral and energy resources, perpetual energy resources, and solid waste. The associated laboratories will illustrate these topics and may include fieldwork.

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

Express graphically, orally or in writing, basic elements of environmental earth-sciences.
Identify and express geological interactions of humans and the environment.
Utilize field and laboratory methods/technologies to measure and describe environmental factors.
Demonstrate an understanding of geologic time scales and processes.

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 video segment from Nature, learn the geological process by which the next Hawaiian island will be formed.

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.