Examples

How Large is a Ton of Rock? -- Thinking about Rock Density part of Examples
Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students build spreadsheets to calculate the edge length of cubes and diameter of spheres of various rocks starting with their mineralogic composition.

Earthquake Magnitude: How Can We Compare the Sizes of Earthquakes? part of Examples
Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students build spreadsheets to tabulate and graph seismic wave amplitude and energy release to explore the logarithmic scale of earthquake magnitude.

Earth's Planetary Density: Constraining What We Think about the Earth's Interior part of Examples
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 ...

Is It Hot in Here? -- Spreadsheeting Conversions in the English and Metric Systems part of Examples
Spreadsheets Across Curriculum module/Introductory chemistry course. Students build spreadsheets to examine unit conversions between the metric and English systems. Spreadsheet level: Beginner.

Vacation! How Long and How Far? -- A Geological Circuit of National Parks in the Colorado Plateau part of Examples
Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module/Geology of National Parks course. Students estimate travel times and costs of a driving/camping trip to visit national parks in the Colorado Plateau.

Calibrating a Pipettor part of Examples
Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum activity. In advance of an actual lab activity, students virtually simulate the calibration of a laboratory micropipettor. QL: Accuracy and precision.

Frequency of Large Earthquakes -- Introducing Some Elementary Statistical Descriptors part of Examples
Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students examine the number of large earthquakes (magnitude 7 and above) per year for 1970-1999 and 1940-1999. QL: descriptors of a frequency distribution.

Global Climate: Estimating How Much Sea Level Changes When Continental Ice Sheets Form part of Examples
Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students build spreadsheets to estimate how far sea level drops during a continental glaciation.

From Isotopes to Temperature: Working With A Temperature Equation part of Examples
Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students build a spreadsheet to examine from a dataset the relation between oxygen isotopes in corals and the temperature of surrounding seawater.

Shaking Ground - Linking Earthquake Magnitude and Intensity part of Examples
An in-class activity for connecting earthquake magnitude, shaking, and intensity.