The Earth's Shells - Density vs. Depth

University of South Florida

This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Peer Reviewed Teaching Activities collection.

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Scientific Accuracy
Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
Pedagogic Effectiveness
Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page

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This page first made public: Oct 18, 2004

Summary

In this module, students devise a way of graphically plotting the density variations vs. depth in the Earth. Students recreate spreadsheets shown in the Powerpoint module on their own with formulas that answer various pieces of the overall question. This module is the sixth in a series of six that examine the density of planets and rocks.

Learning Goals

Determine the most reasonable method of weighting the individual density contributions of the different parts of the Earth's interior.
Learn some of the graphical conventions used in the Earth Sciences for plotting in two dimensions.

Context for Use

This module was designed to be used in an undergraduate mathematical geology class where students are asked to look at geological questions mathematically and may spend more time on the math than on the geology.

Teaching Notes and Tips

These modules were developed as essentially self-paced, take-home lab assignments. Students are supposed to work through the modules, slide by slide, building their own worksheets as they go along, taking note of instructions and prompts, hints, and queries.

Students must have access to computers equipped with a spreadsheet program such as Excel.

Teaching Materials

This module is one of several developed by Dr. Vacher. The module presentation can be found at http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/modules/moduleList.asp

The Powerpoint file is considered to be the student version. There is also an instructor's version that has active spreadsheets in it. There are instructions for requesting this version on the website.

Assessment

The easiest way to test student work on this module is to ask students to hand in a copy of their worksheets starting with a different set of input data. The module also ends with homework assignment questions.

References and Resources

Polya, 1957

Contact the Author

Please contact the author with questions or suggestions.

Controlled Vocabulary Terms

Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics, Mineralogy:Physical Properties
Resource Type: Activities:Lab Activity
Special Interest: Quantitative
Grade Level: College Upper (15-16), College Lower (13-14)
Quantitative Skills: Graphs, Geometry and Trigonometry, Problem Solving, Differential Equations and Integrals, Algebra
Ready for Use: Ready to Use
Topics: Solid Earth

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