Using the IRIS Earthquake Browser tool, students gather data to support a claim about how many large (Mw 8+) earthquakes will happen globally each year. This activity provides scaffolded experience downloading data and manipulating data within a spreadsheet.

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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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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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Half way through the second semester of our year-long integrated Sed/Strat and Structure course we travel to Sheep Mountain, Wyoming where the students spend 5 days describing and measuring section and the constructing geologic and structural maps. The field data gathered then form the basis for a paper titled: "Geologic History of the Sheep Mountain Region". In addition to simply making geologic maps, stratigraphic sections and structural cross-sections, the students have to put the local geology into the broader contexts of the Big Horn Basin and sequences of western orogenies.

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This Historical Geology lab exercise is an accompaniment to lab class instruction about geologic structures (folding and faulting) and geologic maps. It also serves as an excellent introduction to the Geology of the state of Texas. "Coloring" geologic maps, an important part of the exercise, may seem like a very elementary learning technique. But this lab engages students actively, and since the subject is often already somewhat familiar to them, emphasizing both the geology and geography of Texas, students receive it enthusiastically.

This activity could be adapted to other regions, since most states have color 8 1/2 by 11 geologic maps available. A color map could be scanned and modified in Photoshop to create a simplified black and white version as was done in the assignment handout.

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This activity explores the similarity and differences between the Newark Rift Basin and East African Rift.

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Students examine a geologic map of Hawaii and begin to decipher it. In particular, students are asked to examine the map and its legend, to answer some specific questions about them, and then to answer the overarching question, "What evidence is there on this map that the Hawaiian Islands formed over an oceanic hotspot?"

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Students examine and describe samples of rhyolite, pumice, and tuff, having seen samples of mafic volcanic rocks in a previous lab exercise. They then answer a series of questions about the distribution of volcanic rocks on the geologic map of Yellowstone National Park. Finally, they synthesize what they've learned by answering the question, "In two or three sentences, what does this map show you about the volcanic activity of the Yellowstone hotspot?"

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Students chose a roughly one-quarter of one-half square mile area to analysize for geomorphic processes. Students must receive instructor approval of the site before proceeding with the project. Students gather information about the site through literature, previous maps, previous reports, previous surveys, and actual field site reconnaissance. Finding are synthesized into a report.
Designed for a geomorphology course
Uses geomorphology to solve problems in other fields

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The goal of this research project is to allow students to integrate and apply their geomorphic knowledge in a comprehensive study of a local landscape system. In this project, students investigate the origin and significance of a series of flat-topped mesas and isolated hills that rise above the gently sloping surface of alluvial fans along the San Gabriel Mountain foothills. Students work as part of a research team of 3 or 4 members. Each team is assigned a different field area and conduct a comprehensive geomorphic investigation of landforms within that area. Team members are expected to work collaboratively to formulate a research plan, complete a background literature search, and conduct independent fieldwork outside of class time. Each team divides up responsibilities as they see fit. At the end of the quarter, each team presents the results of their research in an oral presentation in front of the class, and in a professional written report submitted to the professor.
Designed for a geomorphology course

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Each student must choose a current news article that relates to geomorphology. Each student will given an oral presentation about the article, including a synopsis of the story and a description of geomorphic processes that are involved. The other students are able to ask questions. The activity gives the students a chance to relate what they are learning about in class to current events and social issues.
Designed for a geomorphology course
Has minimal/no quantitative component

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Each student draws a location from a hat. Then they have one week to research the area, starting with its general plate tectonics situation and then on to specific geophysical information on the place. The knowledge must then be distilled into a one page written report with reference and a 10 minute presentation (usually PowerPoint) to the class. Oral presentations (done in lab so we have sufficient time) are graded by their peers as well as myself.
Has minimal/no quantitative component

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Students analyze the geology and geophysics of a simple fabricated flat planet to analyze its tectonics, deepening their understanding of plate tectonics concepts and discovering for themselves some of the more counter-intuitive aspects of the theory of plate tectonics.

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This module series is designed to teach introductory-level college-age geology students about the basic processes and dynamics that produce earthquakes. Students learn about how and why earthquakes are distributed at plate boundaries using 3D visualizations of real data. These 3D visualizations were designed to allow students to more easily visualize and experience complex and highly visual geologic concepts. 3D visualizations allow students to examine features of the Earth from many different scales and perspectives, and to view both the space and time distributions of events. For example, students can view the earth from the perspective of the entire solar system, or from one point on the Earth's surface, and can visualize how earthquakes along a fault occur through time. By teaching about earthquakes and plate tectonics using a real data set that students can visualize in three-dimensions, students learn how scientists analyze large data sets to look for patterns and test hypotheses. At the end of this module students will understand how earthquakes are distributed on Earth, and how different types of plate boundaries result in different magnitudes and distributions of earthquakes.

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The goal of this activity is to investigate global topographic and tectonic features, especially the tectonic plates and their boundaries. Using a double-page size digital topographic map of the Earth that includes both land and sea floor topography, students are asked to draw plate boundaries, deduce plate motions and interactions, and explore the connections between topography and tectonic processes at the global scale.

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To prepare for this activity, students have been introduced in class and through readings in their textbook to basic crustal deformation processes and landforms including: kinds of stress and strain, surface expressions, and types of faults and folds. Students also have some previous experience navigating in and controlling views in Google Earth. In Lab, students use their personal or lab computers equipped with Google Earth to view a number of specific locations within the United States that have folded or faulted landforms. Each location and landform includes some additional background information and a series of questions that ask the student to 1) review learned knowledge of processes and landforms, 2) identify real topographic expressions of processes and landforms, thus practicing the terminology, and 3) create new understanding of the processes that formed specific landforms. This exercise helps students to move from viewing simple textbook diagrams of crustal deformation processes and landforms to recognizing these elements in real landscape settings.

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This is a lab/project in which the students not only name and identify a suite of granitic rocks but try to piece together the tectonic and geologic history of the Idaho batholith. This activity brings together the process of naming rocks, determining the I-, S- and A-type nature of the rocks, estimating magma source and potential assimilants, a nonquantitative depth of intrusion for the suites, and any distinctive textures that might help tell the story of the batholith. It forces students to move outside the rock in a box lab for granites and create a regional geologic history.

I find this project to work well in class for a number of reasons. Group work and counting on your classmates to interpret the rocks is a foundation of the entire project. The students get exposed to more rocks than in a typical lab without having to identify each of the in great detail since they are ultimately only responsible for their own suite. I have removed at least one lecture on granites and replaced it with this project for them to do the interpretation themselves rather than just passively absorb the geology.

The students have just a basic introduction to I-, A- and S-type granites and the models for the generation of these magmas. They have already learned about grain size relating to cooling rate and depth of intrusion, but it usually is awhile since they thought about these concepts.

Obviously this project depends on the exact samples being available, but the theory of the project can be applied to numerous geologic settings.

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This is a sequence of assignments for my Structural Geology course that guides students through the process of critically reading and analyzing scientific journal articles. For each article, I outline the general questions they should try to answer as they read any journal article, then give specific versions of each of those questions for the particular article assigned. For the last article, I leave it to the students to figure out what the specific versions of the questions would be for that article. The general questions are:

1. What basic research question are the authors trying to answer?
2. What makes that research question significant? (That is, why try to answer that question? Why does it matter?)
3. What data did the authors collect?
4. What is the authors' interpretation of their data?
5. Do you think that the data they collected supports their conclusions? Why or why not?

While the handouts below are specific to the articles we read in my class, these questions could be re-framed for any scientific journal articles that you would like your students to read and understand.

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In this lab, students will use data from real corals collected in Sumatra to track the sea-level and earthquake record of the region over the past century.

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In this lab, students will use data from real corals collected in Sumatra to date historical earthquakes and to track the history of uplift and subsidence of the region over the past century.

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