Introductory Geology - Exercise - testing plate tectonics in the Gulf of California
Summary
THis is a simple exercise to use real-world data from recent large earthquakes so that students can "test" for themselves if plate tectonics "works" in the GUlf of California. The Gulf of California is fairly straightforward for most predicted behavior of a oblique-divergent plate boundary, but there are some intriguing differences between the earthquakes and what textbooks claim. This exercise is designed for an Introductory level class, but should be able to be used at many different levels.
[image right border]Learning Goals
Content & Concept goals:
• using GeoMapApp
• finding data from earthquake catalogs
• plotting selective data from earthquake catalogs
Higher order thinking goals:
• critique of classic textbook models - comparison of real earthquakes along a simple active plate boundary to what is predicted from textbooks
• evaluation of exceptions to the classic model - evaluation of earthquakes that are substantially away from the main plate boundary
• evaluation of quality of data - comparison of the location of the same earthquake from two different earthquake catalogs, and determining which location is closest to the true epicenter given the simplest interpretation
Context for Use
Audience: Introductory class in Geology of any kind that presents principles of plate tectonics
Skills and concepts that students address: Assignment can be adapted to higher level classes.
Use of Exercise in Introductory class: This exercise is designed as a homework exercise with a follow up discussion in a moderate to large introductory class. It can easily be used as part of a lab, or it can be a group exercise embedded within a lecture with follow up discussion in the same class session.
Description and Teaching Materials
assigment handout (Microsoft Word 26kB Apr3 07)
