Reasons for the Seasons part of GEODE:GEODE Teaching Resources
Reasons for the seasons (RFTS for short) is an interactive learning resource that leverages the popular Google Earth virtual globe. It is designed to help students and members of the public visualize and understand ...

A Grand Tour of the Ocean Basins part of GEODE:GEODE Teaching Resources
The Tour Stops are arranged in a teaching sequence, starting with continental rifting and incipient ocean basin formation in East Africa and the Red Sea and ending with the oldest surviving fragments of oceanic ...

Exploring Marine Sediments Using Google Earth part of GEODE:GEODE Teaching Resources
This exercise uses empirical data and Google Earth to explore the surficial distribution of marine sediments in the modern ocean. Over 2500 sites are plotted with access to original data. We recommend first ...

Wakemup Pluton part of GET Spatial Learning:Teaching Activities
Students work through a set of questions about a geologic map of an igneous intrusion and surrounding rock units. These questions focus students' attention on the topography, geomorphology, lithology, and ...

Pangaea Breakup part of GEODE:GEODE Teaching Resources
A Google Earth animation files was developed to show the Pangaea breakup. The animation is utilized to illustrate the evidence for plate tectonics and plate motion. Three student exercises are build around this ...

Google Earth Exercises for Structural Geology part of Visualization:Examples
Students use imagery taken from Google Earth to create photo-geologic maps of areas with various structural styles. Concepts include basic geologic mapping principles, remote data set interpretation, ...

Identifying Symmetry in 2-D Drawings part of Mineralogy:Activities
These three activities are problem sets that make students think about symmetry in 2-D. They all involve identifying symmetry from drawings. I purposely omitted jargony words/phrases such as lattice, unit cell, ...

3D Model of a Geologic Map part of GET Spatial Learning:Teaching Activities
Students analyze a geologic map of an angular unconformity that truncates a pair of dikes, with some topography. When students have deciphered the map and constructed a cross-section, I show them a Play-Doh model ...

Grand Tour of the Terrestrial Planets part of GEODE:GEODE Teaching Resources
In the age of publicly funded space exploration involving several national space agencies, knowing about the highest mountain in the solar system is as basic to geospatial literacy as knowing about the highest ...

Introduction to Modeling Folds part of GET Spatial Learning:Teaching Activities
Students make Play-Doh models of synclines and anticlines, including one of a plunging fold. They use these models to answer questions about what these structures look like in map view and cross-sectional view.

Introduction to Igneous Intrusions part of GET Spatial Learning:Teaching Activities
Students make Play-Doh models of sills and dikes.

Rivers and Floods in Tampa FL on the Sulphur Springs Quadrangle part of Hydrogeology:Activities
This activity takes place in a laboratory setting and requires ~1.5-2 hours to complete. Students study a topographic map, draw drainage divides, calculate recurrence intervals for two streams, create a recurrence ...

Virtual Marine Sediment Core Collection part of GEODE:GEODE Teaching Resources
A primary objective of marine science classes is to learn the location and formation of ocean sediment types. Nearly 50 years of scientific ocean drilling has produced a tremendous scientific collection of cores ...

Modeling Folds: Block Diagrams and Structure Contours part of GET Spatial Learning:Teaching Activities
Working in small groups, students build Play-Doh models of 3 folds (one upright, one vertical, one plunging). They slice each of their models to create 3D block models, sketch block diagrams of each fold, and ...

Isopach Maps part of GET Spatial Learning:Teaching Activities
Students complete several short, in-class exercises related to understanding isopach maps. We use Play-Doh models to illustrate features revealed in the isopach maps and to support student understanding of the ...

Introduction to Modeling Faults part of GET Spatial Learning:Teaching Activities
Students use Play-Doh to explore the map patterns created by faulting + erosion. We begin with simple scenarios and progress to more complex possibilities.

Introduction to Structure Contours part of GET Spatial Learning:Teaching Activities
Students construct structure contour lines for a "dipping bed" in our classroom and on a geologic map. In my class, this is a multi-day activity. In part 1 of this exercise, students use "topographic ...

How Many Is A Million? part of Rates and Time:Visualizations with Teaching Notes
Roger Steinberg, Department of Natural Sciences, Del Mar College 5000 Dots by Computer (Click image to enlarge and download.)

Visualizing Global Earthquakes – Where and Why do Earthquakes Occur? part of Visualization:Examples
In this activity students visualize the distribution and magnitude of earthquakes at and below the surface of Earth and how their distribution is related to plate boundaries. Earthquakes are visualized on a 3D ...

Visualizing Earthquakes at Divergent Plate Margins part of Visualization:Examples
In this activity students visualize the distribution and magnitude of earthquakes at divergent plate boundaries. Earthquakes are visualized on a 3D globe, making it easy to see their distribution within ...