Getting started with Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry
Beth Pratt-Sitaula, EarthScope Consortium
Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry method uses overlapping images to create a 3D point cloud of an object or landscape. It can be applied to everything from fault scarps to landslides to topography. This ...

Stress Map
James Conder, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Use earthquakes from the global CMT catalog to look at crustal stresses in a given region of the Earth. Students will download earthquake data from an online catalog and make 2 tectonic maps. One map is of the ...

Discover Plate Tectonics
Angela Daneshmand, Santiago Canyon College
This is a student-centered activity for a synchronous online course where students access google slides to complete during a video conferencing session (eg. Zoom) in break out rooms. Students will be introduced to ...

Molecular Parasitology
Swati Agrawal, University of Mary Washington
In Spring 2021, we piloted a mini-CURE where student groups from University of Mary Washington and Georgia State University collaboratively completed research projects as part of a research-intensive course on Molecular Parasitology. The benefits of this approach were immediately obvious as students interacted across institutions, learned from each other's disciplinary expertise while informing their own research with data collected by their collaborators.

Data Representation in MATLAB: From Raw Data to Insight
Ray Senior, University of Technology, Jamaica
This activity is a hands-on computational lab where students import, validate, inspect, and visualize three heterogeneous data types (spreadsheets, audio, images) to discover MATLAB's unified array-based data ...

Dimensional Analysis and Flow Visualization Using MATLAB
Kianoosh Yousefi, The University of Texas at Dallas
In this MATLAB-based activity, students develop two general computational modules, one for automated dimensional analysis using the Buckingham π theorem, and another for streamline and pathline visualization for ...

Control Systems using Simulink
Kelvin Loutan, The University of Trinidad and Tobago
Analytically solving differential equations representing dynamic systems can sometimes distract from the physical implications of the model. In this module, the dynamic equations of a DC motor are used as a ...

ERP Peak Detective: Introduction to Event-Related Potential Analysis with MATLAB
Brian Rivera, St Olaf College
This scaffolded laboratory activity introduces students with minimal programming experience to Event-Related Potential (ERP) analysis using MATLAB. Students progress from interactive visual exploration of neural ...

Example False position Method Problem in MATLAB Live Script
Adrian Quesada Martinez, Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica
Interactive MATLAB activity to implement and analyze the False Position Method (Regula Falsi) for finding roots of nonlinear equations. Includes theoretical introduction, step-by-step graphical visualization, ...

Measuring voting districts and distributions
Eugene Mahmoud, Mt San Antonio College
This project-based activity allows students to use MATLAB to analyze voting district boundaries and their relationship to social and environmental justice. Students recreate geographic borders, calculate centroids, ...

Let's Look Inside the Earth
David Zelenka
Students will analyze USGS seismology data in the classroom using spreadsheets and scatter plots to look for patterns and structure in the Earth's crust. Before analyzing data, students will learn about the ...

Biomass conversion into highly useful chemicals
SAPNA JAIN, Alabama State University
This is CURE based course that aims at bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge in chemistry and its practical applications at solving real-world problems. It gives students an opportunity to construct and synthesize their knowledge and skills by learning to apply theoretical knowledge to practice by the laboratory research. The purpose of this course is to acquaint students with the fundamental concepts of chemistry, synthetic methods and techniques. The emphasis will be on novel catalysts synthesis and evaluating their activity towards biomass conversion to liquid fuel and useful chemicals. Students will design synthesize, deduce identities of the biomass conversion products from chemical and spectral clues, and predict reaction products.

Exploring hypothesis-driven research using Arduino boards and Matlab
Sara Wilson, University of Kansas
In this activity, students explore hypothesis-driven research through the development of an experiment using Arduino Uno style microcontroller boards and Matlab. This project encourages students to develop a ...

Procrustes Skull Analysis
Emily Dosmar, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Procrustes analysis is a form of statistical shape analysis used to analyze the distribution of a set of shapes. The goal of this assignment is to compare different skull types to a reference skull to determine ...

Lake Modeling Module
Cayelan Carey, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Lakes around the globe are experiencing the effects of climate change. In this module, students will learn how to use a lake model to explore the effects of altered weather on lakes, and then develop their own ...

Online Discussion Prompts for Introductory Geology
Karen Kortz, Community College of Rhode Island; Jessica Smay, San Jose City College
This set of 17 online discussion prompts are designed to encourage students to apply, explore, and reflect on course topics. Some are content-specific (e.g. investigate misconceptions about a certain topic or take ...

Taphonomy: Dead and Fossilized Board Game - High School Edition
Rowan Martindale, The University of Texas at Austin; Enrique Reyes, Northside ISD - San Antonio
"Taphonomy: Dead and Fossilized" can be used as an active learning tool in a class or lab to promote understanding of Earth processes (Geology), deep time, fossils, and the history of life on Earth ...

Activity 10: Feedback Loops Applied
Cameron Weiner, Middlebury College
Students apply the vocabulary and concepts from the Activity 9: Feedback Loop Introduction to assess and create earth science feedback loops with the LOOPY online modeling program. (Optional) The students then ...

Construction of a Korjinski Diagram
Terri Woods, East Carolina University
An interactive powerpoint presentation walks students step-by-step through the process of generating a Korjinski diagram for the system K20-Al2O3-SiO2. Students will use the triangular diagram from the previous ...

Analysis of the effects of protein-protein interactions on signaling through a team-based undergraduate biochemistry laboratory course
Daniela Fera, Swarthmore College
We developed a research-based laboratory course centered on a biological problem involving the B-Raf kinase, specifically the mutant that is commonly found in melanomas. One of the major goals of the project for the students is to generate mutants to determine whether a particular region of the B-Raf protein is critical for the interaction with MEK kinase, a downstream target in the pathway. Students analyze the published B-Raf-MEK crystal structure and choose a mutation to generate in B-Raf or MEK that might alter the dissociation constant (KD) of the complex. They design primers, perform PCR to generate their desired mutant, transform and purify the resulting DNA, express the DNA in E. coli, and purify the protein, all before characterizing it. Characterizing the mutant proteins consist of performing basic pull-downs, western blots, spectroscopic absorbance assays, and biolayer interferometry for binding kinetics. Students also engage in group meeting presentations and journal clubs in which they discuss their work and related primary literature, respectively. Group meeting and journal club discussions provide a forum for students to come up with new ideas to analyze their results, or for future work. Students summarize key results in a final presentation and paper, and develop a research proposal based on their work. Data that students obtain from their mutants provide evidence of the importance of a binding region for B-Raf-MEK complex formation, as well as downstream phosphorylation events. Such data will inform future drug discovery programs, as well as form the foundation for students' work in the course the following year. Because working with mutants can result in unpredictable data and results, students sometimes have to adjust their protocols and repeat experiments. Thus, the CURE format of this course also gives students an opportunity to learn to troubleshoot when things do not work as expected, which helps them learn resiliency in science.