Classroom Activities for Teaching Sedimentary Geology

This collection of teaching materials allows for the sharing of ideas and activities within the community of geoscience teachers. Do you have a favorite teaching activity you'd like to share? Please help us expand this collection by contributing your own teaching materials.

Help

Results 1 - 20 of 71 matches

Sedimentation Provenance Problem Set part of Activities
Man-Yin Tsang, University of Toronto
Introduce students the concept of Sedimentation Provenance and how it can be studied from rock samples. Teach students to visualize mineral distributions in a basin and draw ternary QFR (quartz-feldspar-rock ...

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

Introduction to well logs for use in the petroleum industry part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Walter Borowski, Eastern Kentucky University
This exercise uses a suite of well logs (aka electric logs) to interpret lithology within a stratigraphic section and to determine fluid content within borehole rocks.

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

Building a Facies Model part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
William W. Little, Brigham Young University-Idaho
Facies models are often abstract and difficult for undergraduate students to fully understand. As a result, they tend to memorize idealized diagrams from text books that can be reproduced for an exam, then ...

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

Stoke's Law Problem Set part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Rachel Headley, College of Idaho
This is a problem set that involves the calculation of velocities from a Reynolds number, determination of Stoke's Law applicability, and calculation of settling velocities for a variety of grain sizes and ...

Visualizing Data from a Journal Article: A Critical Thinking Exercise part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Jeannette Wolak Luna, Tennessee Technological University
This is a take-home exercise for junior or senior-level students in a Sedimentation/Stratigraphy course. It may be used to bridge topics of geomorphology, depositional environments and clastic sedimentology. The ...

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

Mechanisms of Evolution part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Rene Shroat-Lewis, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
This exercise uses simple experiments to examine the process of natural selection, which is driven by variation in genetic traits within a population, the potential for offspring to inherit traits from their ...

Stratigraphic Section Investigation part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Alex Lechler, Pacific Lutheran University
This lab exercise provides a hypothetical, regional stratigraphic section for students to interpret with regards to depositional environment and tectonic change through time. The assignment is designed to develop ...

Fluvial and Alluvial Sedimentology Incorporating Google Earth part of Activities
Elizabeth Cassel, University of Idaho
A lab activity for an undergraduate sedimentary geology course focused on fluvial and alluvial sedimentology, incorporating Google Earth.

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

Sed/Strat Field Trip - Red Wing, MN part of Activities
Cameron Davidson
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Show caption HideShort (approximately 3 minute) video highlighting the field stops, activities, and ...

The Desktop Delta part of Using Physical Models
Dr. Thomas Hickson (University of St. Thomas) and Karen Campbell (National Center for Earth Surface Dynamics) developed a small, two-dimensional deltaic sedimentation model for the Teaching Sedimentary Geology ...

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

Outcrop Documentation Lab Exercise part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Thomas Evans, Western Washington University
Stratigraphy students are tasked with documenting an outcrop (sketches, photographs, and rock descriptions) and providing a three panel display of the results. Students work on the lab in class and receive direct ...

Exploring Barrier Islands in Google Earth part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Lonnie Leithold, North Carolina State University
This is an exploration in Google Earth of the links between barrier island morphology and wave and tidal energy.

Exploring sea level change in Google Earth part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Lonnie Leithold, North Carolina State University
This is a short activity that uses Google Earth to explore sea-level change as measured by tidal gauges around the world

Using Well Logs in the Petroleum Industry part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Walter Borowski, Eastern Kentucky University
This exercise shows how well logs are used in the petroleum industry. It is designed as a first exposure to well logs for undergraduate geology majors and introduces not only well logs and their interpretation as ...

Karst Landscapes of the Interior Low Plateaus part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
David Franzi, SUNY College at Plattsburgh
This laboratory exercise examines the linkages between ground and surface water hydrology and landscape evolution in the Interior Low Plateaus Region of Kentucky. The exercise focuses upon the origin of Mammoth ...

Drag Coefficient Estimates Using a Smoke Wind Tunnel part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
James King, Indiana University-Bloomington
This lab exercise utilizes a small (and relatively easy to make) wind tunnel with a fog tracer that helps students visualize the flow dynamics around obstacles. In this exercise the use of cylinders perpendicular ...

Sequence-stratigraphic and mass-balance analysis of experimental stratigraphy part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Liz Hajek, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
Sequence-stratigraphic and mass-balance analysis of experimental stratigraphy. Students are charged with evaluating how basin subsidence geometry influences depositional patterns. In addition to providing practice ...

Building an Idealized Stratigraphic Sequence – Clastic Shoreline Example part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
William W. Little, Brigham Young University-Idaho
The purpose of this exercise is to guide students through the process of constructing a stratigraphic sequence based on understanding relationships between the production of space and filling that space with ...

Aeolian Processes part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Alec Aitken, University of Saskatchewan
This activity explores the environmental variables that influence wind erosion. Key words: aeolian, fluid threshold, impact threshold,sedeiment entrainment and transport, particle size analysis

Drawing Structural and Isopachous Maps part of Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Janis Treworgy, Principia College
This activity has 3 maps with real stratigraphic data recorded adjacent to drill holes in the Illinois Basin. Students contour the structural data. They may also contour the associated thickness data or they can ...