This worksheet helps students visualize Earth's magnetic field, shows how magnetic inclination changes with latitude, and shows how rocks can be tied to specific latitudes of origin based on magnetic inclination recorded in the rock. In this worksheet, students are given a diagram of the Earth with its magnetic field and 8 packages of "rock" with magnetic inclination arrows. Students grab, move, and rotate each rock to determine its latitude of origin by matching the arrows in the "rock" with the magnetic field lines on the diagram of the Earth. By allowing a direct, physical comparison of the magnetic field to magnetic inclinations recorded in rocks, this worksheet reduces the cognitive load of visualizing those spatial relationships. The worksheet includes a problem that walks students through the process of determining movement of a plate that has two bodies of rock with different magnetic minerals.

This worksheet uses the sketch-understanding program with built-in tutor: CogSketch. Therefore, students, instructors, and/or institution computer labs need to download the program from here: http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/software/cogsketch/. At any point during the worksheet, students can click the FEEDBACK button and their sketch is compared to the solution image. The built-in tutor identifies any discrepancies and reports pre-written feedback to help the student correct their sketch until they are done with the activity. Once worksheets are emailed to the instructor, worksheets can be batch graded and easily evaluated. This program allows instructors to assign sketching activities that require very little time commitment. Instead, the built-in tutor provides feedback whenever the student requests, without the presence of the instructor. More information on using the program and the activity is in the Instructor's Notes.

We have developed approximately two dozen introductory geoscience worksheets using this program. Each worksheet has a background image and instructions for a sketching task. You can find additional worksheets by searching for "CogSketch" using the search box at the top of this page. We expect to have uploaded all of them by the end of the summer of 2016.

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Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students build spreadsheets to forward calculate the Earth's aggregate density from combinations of densities and thicknesses of the Earth's four shells.

In this activity students explore the Earth's radiation budget using Earth radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) data archived at the IRI/LDEO Climate Data Library (more info) .

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A computer animation on the reason for the seasons. Voice-over describes the motion of Earth around the sun to show how the sun's light impacts the tilted Earth at different times of the year, causing seasonal changes.

In this module, students are asked to devise a way of graphically plotting the density variations with depth in the Earth.

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This module explores the combination of densities and shell thicknesses that produce an aggregate density of the Earth of 5.5 g/cm3.

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Students work in pairs on this worksheet and strengthen their background knowledge by identifying different features in photographs of Earth's surface. Then to build on this base, the students need to determine the key processes that form each of the features. To address a common misconception, students read a debate between two hypothetical students and need to determine which student is stating the scientifically correct idea. The project is summarized by a question posed about the features on a hypothetical planet.

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This Lecture Tutorial worksheet is designed for students to work on in groups after the students
have learned about basic surface features and how they relate to planets in general. The tutorial
is designed to help students look at these simple features and realize that they are not
independent features, but instead are related to the planet as a whole.

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This NASA video provides a nice overview of Earth's water cycle from the perspective of looking at Earth from space.

This field investigation allows students to collect and observe earthworms using liquid extraction to help develop background knowledge at the start of a new earthworm unit.

Students in this course explore designs of a future Carleton College student house. This is a multi-year project where students from the social sciences, humanities / arts, and natural sciences explore parts of the design of an actual house.

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Individual project designed to combine basic oceanographic concepts in the creation of a travel brochure. Involves some group interaction, but project is individual. Can be done online or in a face-to-face class.
Best completed at midterm or later in the semester so that most concepts have been introduced.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Describe major oceanic processes and evaluate their influence on the coastal environment.
2Use global data on climate and wind patterns to quantify and describe conditions at various specific coastal sites.

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The ecological autobiography is a multi-stage reflective and written exercise that draws on students' personal history and experiences as they consider the ecological context of some period of their lives. The goal is to individually and collectively explore how the landscapes and ecological communities we have inhabited influence us as individuals, set the context of our lives, and influence our expectations of landscape.

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Students explore their own Ecological Footprint in the context of how many Earths it would take if everyone used the same amount of resources they did. They compare this to the Ecological Footprint of individuals in other parts of the world and to the Ecological footprint of a family member when they were the student's age.

How big is your ecological footprint? This case will assist students in quantifying this construct and allow them to reflect on life styles and alternative approaches that can help them reduce their ecological impacts.

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This short lesson was designed in collaboration with a 7th grade Life Science teacher (Paul Jeffery). The idea behind the lesson is to help students better understand ecological and geographical classifications by teaching them at the same time in their Life Science class and their Geography class. Teaching the two classifications together will help reinforce the idea of classification. While this lesson would best be taught outdoors it can also be adapted to the indoors.

This video focuses on the conifer forest in Alaska to explore the carbon cycle and how the forest responds to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. Topics addressed in the video include wildfires, reflectivity, and the role of permafrost in the global carbon cycle.

This activity is an open-ended inquiry investigation in which students analyze and predict how an environmental change will affect the visitation rates of insects. Students will ask a question, develop multiple hypotheses, run a scientific investigation, and report their findings to their "colleagues".

Students will explore and create a healthy ecosystem, once established they will then introduce additional variables which may harm the ecosystem and determine which hazards should be avoided.

In this activity, students select an argument of a climate skeptic, research it, and write up a mock dialog that portrays a back-and-forth discussion between the skeptic and a non-skeptic, while presenting a scientific argument that counters the false claim.