Volcanoes Writing Assignment part of Cutting Edge:Introductory Courses:Activities
Students write an original work of fiction pertaining to the geology of stratovolcanoes and their eruptive hazards.

Earthquake Epicenter Location Exercise using Google Earth and OneNote part of Cutting Edge:Geophysics:Workshop 07:Geophysics Activities
Students are provided with data from 4 seismograms which are used to plot the epicenter of an earthquake using OneNote to pick the P-S wave arrival gap and Google Earth to plot the circles which intersect at the ...

Downloading Earthquake Data from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Site for Anywhere in the World and Studying it Using ArcGIS part of Cutting Edge:Introductory Courses:Activities
Students download earthquake data from the USGS Earthquake Hazards website and plot and anlyze the earthquakes using ArcMap and ArcScene.

Analyzing your Hometown Stream using On-line USGS NWIS Data part of Cutting Edge:Introductory Courses:Activities
Students analyze discharge records of streams or rivers of interest to them using on-line USGS NWIS data.

Who Polluted Surface and Groundwater in This Place? part of Cutting Edge:Introductory Courses:Activities
Students use water-well data and geology to determine which site caused groundwater and surface-water contamination.

Mapping a Local Dune Field and Estimating Paleowind Speed and Direction part of NAGT:Teaching Resources:Teaching in the Field:Field Trip Collection
Donald T. Rodbell, Union College Intended Audience: Undergraduate geomorphology course. Location: Pinebush dune field, eastern New York State (approximately 20 minutes from Union College campus). Summary: We visit ...

Roadside and Engineering Geology of Auke Bay, Juneau, Alaska part of NAGT:Teaching Resources:Teaching in the Field:Field Trip Collection
Roadside and Engineering Geology of Auke Bay, Juneau, Alaska : Cathy Connor, University of Alaska Southeast Intended Audience: Introductory Physical Geology for majors and non-majors. Location: Auke Bay, Juneau, ...

Nearest-neighbor analysis and the distribution of sinkholes: an introduction to spatial statistics part of Cutting Edge:Geomorphology:Activities
This is an exercise I use in an upper-division geomorphology course to introduce students to nearest-neighbor analysis, a basic technic in spatial statistics. This technique provides an objective method for ...

Confirmation of the IPCC Prediction re: Increased Storminess part of Cutting Edge:Hurricanes-Climate Change Connection:Activities
A two-part culminating activity for a meteorology/climatology unit in an Earth Science course centered upon data acquisition and analysis regarding the confirmation of the IPCC predicition regarding increased ...

Poleward Heat Transport Jigsaw part of Cutting Edge:Hurricanes-Climate Change Connection:Activities
Based on great plate tectonic exercise by Sawyer et al. (2005 JGE), this small-group exercise with maps of data about earth's energy balance helps students visualize poleward heat transport.

Is There a Trend in Hurricane Number or Intensity? part of Cutting Edge:Hurricanes-Climate Change Connection:Activities
This lab guides students through an examination of the hurricane record to determine if there is a trend in hurricane intensity over the past 40 years and introduces some issues related to statistics and ...

Carbon Footprint Exercise part of Cutting Edge:Climate Change:Activities
We designed a three-step assignment for students in introductory geoscience that asks them to calculate their carbon footprint during one specific week. The goal of the assignment is to increase student awareness ...

Natural Gas and the Marcellus Shale part of Cutting Edge:Energy:Energy Activities
This homework problem introduces students to the Marcellus shale natural gas play and how an unconventional reservoir rock can become an attractive hydrocarbon target.

Power Source part of Cutting Edge:Energy:Energy Activities
In this lesson-opening activity, students or groups are tasked to make concept sketches that track the source of electrical power as far back as they can conceive. The concept sketches reveal students' prior ...

Energy and the Poor - Black Carbon in Developing Nations part of Cutting Edge:Energy:Energy Activities
In this activity, students will explore impacts of the use of wood, dung and charcoal in developing countries for fuel, producing black carbon. In-class discussion will generate a list of several broad topics, ...

Calculation of your personal carbon footprint part of Cutting Edge:Energy:Energy Activities
This worksheet walks the students through the steps for calculating their personal carbon footprint. Additionally it helps them consider options for reducing their carbon footprint and the potential costs of those ...

From Grid to Home part of Cutting Edge:Energy:Energy Activities
This one-period classroom activity is designed to have students analyze energy use, cost, and source patterns from household to regional scales and relate these patterns to CO2 emissions. This idea was generated at ...

Oil Demand and Consumption part of Process of Science:Examples
Data modeling activity using oil reserve and consumption data. Students predict when oil reserves meet or exceed reserves.

Estimating Exchange Rates of Water in Embayments using Simple Budget Equations. part of Quantitative Skills:Activity Collection
Simple budgets may be used to estimate the exchange of water in embayments that capitalize on the concept of steady state and conservation principals. This is especially true for bays that experience a significant exchange of freshwater. This exchange of freshwater may reduce the average salt concentration in the bay compared to seawater if it involves addition of freshwater from rivers, R, and/or precipitation, P. Alternatively, it may increase the average salt concentration in the bay compared to seawater if there is relatively little river input and high evaporation, E. Since freshwater input changes the salt concentration in the bay, and salt is a conservative material, it is possible to combine two steady state budgets for a bay, one for salt and one for water, to solve for the magnitude of the water flows that enter and exit the bay mouth. Students will make actual calculations for the inflow and outflow of water to Puget Sound, Washington and the Mediterranean Sea and compare them to actual measured values.

Columbia River Gorge and the Oregon Coast to Northern California part of NAGT:Teaching Resources:Teaching in the Field:Field Trip Collection
Gorge to Shore - Columbia River Gorge and the Oregon Coast to Northern California Drs. Jenny Thomson and John Buchanan, Department of Geology, 130 Science Building, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004 ...