Hands-on group activity in where children go outside to find clouds, document with pictures, and identify them.

The transgressive coastal sequence, as a fundamental concept in stratigraphy, will be explored by the students in a hands-on activity based on a set of high-resolution seismic profiles collected in the shoreface off Assateague Island, Maryland and Virginia. Small groups of 2-3 students will identify primary surfaces, such as the ravinement surface and sequence boundaries, and major sedimentary facies, such as offshore shoals, flood-tidal deltas, and tidal inlets, in a set of shore-parallel and shore-perpendicular lines. The exercise begins with factors controlling relative sea level and leads into accommodation space and preservation potential.

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This activity is a geology lab where students learn about fossils found in sedimentary rocks and show their understanding by writing a literary nonfiction paper from the perspective of one of those fossils.

This worksheet has students identify and annotate stratigraphic and structural features on top of four outcrop photos. It's designed to give students critically important practice, training their eyes to see geologically important features and understand what these features look like in real life. Stratigraphic and structural features are described for each of the four photos. Using the descriptions, students sketch and label each feature on top of the photo. For one photo, students also draw arrows to indicate the direction of fault movement given the geometry of bedding in the photo. Students also complete six multiple-choice questions pertaining to the concepts of the worksheet.

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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In this exercise, crystal structure data for a variety of unknown minerals are downloaded and entered into a visualization program (either XtalDraw or CrystalMaker). Through a series of directed questions for each unknown, students investigate and manipulate the crystal structure to gather information about its possible identity. This exercise builds on a wide variety of content normally covered over an entire introductory mineralogy course, and could be used as a self-study exercise to help mineralogy students prepare for a comprehensive final exam.

(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.)

In this exercise, crystal structure data for a variety of unknown minerals are downloaded and entered into a visualization program (either XtalDraw or CrystalMaker). Through a series of directed questions for each unknown, students investigate and manipulate the crystal structure to gather information about its possible identity. This exercise builds on a wide variety of content normally covered over an entire introductory mineralogy course, and could be used as a self-study exercise to help mineralogy students prepare for a comprehensive final exam.

(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 activity is designed for students to discover how making observations of the environment is the key to making sound predictions. Students will also learn how both positive and negative outcomes of these predictions can affect and shape future decisions.

Average inquiry level: Guided inquiry
Students working in groups will examine and discuss earthquakes, volcanoes, topography, faults, and seafloor ages and use those features to identify the boundaries of tectonic plates and specific features and processes associated with specific types of plate boundaries. This lab is designed for face-to-face instruction.

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Students observe a virtual ocean basin and two adjacent continental margins. From the characteristics of the sea floor and adjacent land, students infer where plate boundaries might be present. They then predict where earthquakes and volcanoes might occur. Finally, they draw their inferred plate boundaries in cross section.

(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.)

Students only learn to identify symmetry by practice. These activities provide that practice. Besides learning to identify symmetry, these activities will get them thinking about how symmetry operations may combine. After completing these exercises successfully, students will be ready to hear about lattices, about point symmetry and point groups, and about space symmetry and space groups.

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Through a hands-on activity using salt marsh sediment cores from Pacific Northwest estuaries, students will learn how these environments record the history of earthquakes and tsunami. Students will analyze the stratigraphy through visualization and touch. Students will additionally conduct an experiment to compare organic matter content within sediment sampled from different depths within the sediment core.

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This model-eliciting activity (MEA) challenges students to develop a model for predicting the characteristics of a person who has committed a crime. Students work with real data on shoe length, height, and gender to develop the model. Students write a report to the crime victim that identifies a suspect and justifies their decision. The activity sets the stage for students to learn about regression models, and reinforces their understanding of central tendency and variability. It is suggested that this activity be used prior to a formal introduction to linear relationships.

This is an online activity introducing students to the basic identification and classification of the textural and compositional characteristics of sedimentary rocks in thin section.

This activity is a kindergarten field and classroom investigation where students make observations, collect data and share conclusions that shows they understand that the sun is a source of light.

In this exercise, students use whole-rock major- and trace-element compositions of igneous rocks from a variety of tectonic settings and locations to explore the importance of plate setting in determining magma compositions. Students are split into groups and assigned different tectonic settings to examine and compare with other groups. Datasets are obtained from the GEOROC database, imported into Excel spreadsheets, and graphed to learn how igneous rock compositions are a function of plate tectonic setting.

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In this exercise, students are split into groups to gather whole-rock geochemical data (major-, trace-, and rare-earth elements) from the GEOROC database for igneous rocks sampled from four different plate tectonic settings: mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones, oceanic islands, and oceanic plateaus. Each group is assigned a different plate tectonic setting and collects three datasets from different locations for their tectonic setting. Geochemical data is graphed as major-element variation and REE diagrams to quantify igneous diversity both within the same tectonic setting and between different tectonic settings. The main goal of this exercise is to demonstrate that igneous rock compositions are a strong function of plate tectonic setting.

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Igneous Rocks Identification online (developed for remote learning during COVID-19 pandemic); students will explore the various characteristics of igneous rocks and then apply them to identify unknowns.

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Average inquiry level: Guided inquiry
This is an in-person inquiry lab for igneous rocks, but it could be converted to an online lab through use of igneous rock photos available online (see links provided in the Instructor Notes). Students will work with a variety of typical igneous rocks, developing observational skills and learning to categorize and identify igneous rocks based on their compositions and textures. In addition, students will be able to "tell the story" of igneous rocks, using observational skills to understand where on earth and under what circumstances an igneous rock could form.

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While working in groups to facilitate peer tutoring, students use samples of four igneous rocks (gabbro, basalt, granite, and rhyolite) to observe differences in texture, color and grain size and make inferences about the relative cooling histories and silica content associated with each magma type.

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In this project, students work in small groups to formally characterize an aspect of a local igneous rock, based on petrography, hand sample descriptions, and SEM and/or CL analyses. Students have two lab sessions and a field trip dedicated to working on this suite of rocks: one for detailed petrographic analyses and another SEM or CL imaging and analysis. The field trip is the field component of the project. The individual labs are ungraded, but all are required for completion of the project.

Papers must include the following sections:
Introduction, Geologic History, Petrography, Chemical Analysis, Discussion, References, Appendix (contains copies of ALL notes, calculations, drafts and revisions)

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