Interpretation of plate boundaries from topography, bathymetry, volcanoes, and earthquake focal depths using Google Earth and OneNote part of Workshop 07: Activities
Jeffrey Nunn, Louisiana State University
Students are provided with data on topography, bathymetry, locations of earthquakes and volcanoes and earthquake focal depths in Google Earth. They are asked to plot a cross-section of topography/bathymetry and ...

Earth Motion Monitor part of Workshop 07: Activities
Charles Ammon, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
An activity based around the display near real-time seismograms in the classroom.

Driving forces of plate tectonics and the importance of inertia part of Workshop 07: Activities
Donald Forsyth, Brown University
Simple in class calculations showing that inertia or momentum is completely unimportant in considering the driving forces of plate tectonics

Theoretical estimation of cooling times part of Workshop 07: Activities
Steve Dickman, SUNY at Binghamton
Development of equations governing conduction of heat, culminating in a scaling analysis to easily estimate order-of-magnitude time for magma body to cool. Simple ultimate formulas and wide-ranging geoscience ...

The Birth of the Earth System and the Convection Paradigm part of Workshop 07: Activities
Steve Dickman, SUNY at Binghamton
Convection is a major process operating throughout the Earth System. This combination lecture sequence / problem set activity sets the stage for the appearance and importance of convection within the Earth System, ...

Assesing the angle of subduction using GeoMapApp part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Structure, , and Tectonics 2012:Activities
Rory McFadden, Carleton College
This activity has students determine the angle of subduction using GeoMapApp. Students use datasets available within GeoMapApp to examine the influence of the age of oceanic lithosphere and convergence rate on the ...

Scientific debate: Mantle plumes part of Deep Earth:Activities
Brennan Jordan, University of South Dakota
A structured format for a debate of the mantle plume hypothesis and alternative hypotheses with supporting materials.

Reading and responding to geological journal articles part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Structure, , and Tectonics 2012:Activities
Rory McFadden, Carleton College
This a semester long activity for students in a plate tectonics course will be read one (or two) geological journal articles every other week on the major topics covered in the course. Students will submit reading ...

Unit 4: GPS and infinitesimal strain analysis part of GPS, Strain, and Earthquakes
Vince Cronin, Baylor University (Vince_Cronin@baylor.edu) Phil Resor, Wesleyan University (presor@wesleyan.edu)
Students work with GPS velocity data from three stations in the same region that form an acute triangle. By investigating how the ellipse inscribed within this triangle deforms, students learn about strain, strain ...

Unit 5: 2014 South Napa Earthquake and GPS strain part of GPS, Strain, and Earthquakes
Phil Resor, Wesleyan University
The 2014 South Napa earthquake was the first large earthquake (Mag 6) to occur within the Plate Boundary Observatory GPS network (now Network of the Americas- NOTA) since installation. It provides an excellent ...

Unit 6: Applying GPS strain and earthquake hazard analyses to different regions part of GPS, Strain, and Earthquakes
Vince Cronin, Baylor University (Vince_Cronin@baylor.edu) Phil Resor, Wesleyan University (presor@wesleyan.edu)
Students select their own set of three stations in an area of interest to them, conduct a strain analysis of the area between the stations, and tie the findings to regional tectonics and societal impacts in a 5–7 ...

Unit 1: Earthquake! part of GPS, Strain, and Earthquakes
Vince Cronin, Baylor University (Vince_Cronin@baylor.edu) Phil Resor, Wesleyan University (presor@wesleyan.edu)
In this opening unit, students develop the societal context for understanding earthquake hazards using as a case study the 2011 Tohoku, Japan, earthquake. It starts with a short homework "scavenger hunt" ...

Unit 1: "If an earthquake happens in the desert and no one lives there, should we care about it?" [How are human-made infrastructure lifelines affected by earthquakes?] part of Imaging Active Tectonics
Bruce Douglas, Indiana University-Bloomington; Gareth Funning, University of California-Riverside
This unit initiates a discussion about the importance of recognizing faults in relation to modern societal infrastructure. Students consider the types of infrastructure necessary to support a modern lifestyle, ...

Unit 2: Identifying faulting styles, rates and histories through analysis of geomorphic characteristics (Lidar) part of Imaging Active Tectonics
Bruce Douglas, Indiana University-Bloomington; Gareth Funning, University of California-Riverside
Can active faults be identified remotely, based upon their appearance in the landscape? How can the geomorphic features associated with active faults be used to classify and quantify fault movement? In this unit, ...

Unit 5: How do earthquakes affect society? part of Imaging Active Tectonics
Bruce Douglas, Indiana University-Bloomington; Gareth Funning, University of California-Riverside
Unit 5 is a final exercise that can start during a lab period and carry over into work outside of the lab time. The project report will test students' abilities to synthesize and apply knowledge related to ...

Unit 4: The phenomenology of earthquakes from InSAR data part of Imaging Active Tectonics
Bruce Douglas, Indiana University-Bloomington; Gareth Funning, University of California-Riverside
How are different types of earthquakes represented in InSAR data? How can we obtain detailed information on the earthquake source from InSAR data? How well can we resolve those details? In this unit, students ...

Unit 3: How to see an earthquake from space (InSAR) part of Imaging Active Tectonics
Bruce Douglas, Indiana University-Bloomington; Gareth Funning, University of California-Riverside
How can we tell what style of faulting was responsible for a particular earthquake? Especially in cases where there is limited instrumentation in a region, or where geologists have difficulty accessing the affected ...

Hotspot Lesson: Mantle Plumes part of ERESE:ERESE Activities
Jamie A. Russell, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Related Links Relative Dating Hotspot Theory and Plate Velocities Samoan Hotspot Final Hotspot Project View Lesson Plan at ERESE ...
This lesson introduces the theory of mantle plumes and possible ways of finding evidence to support the theory.

Thermal Evolution of the Oceanic Lithosphere part of Teaching Computation with MATLAB:Teaching with MATLAB 2015:Teaching Activities
Mark Behn, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The goal of this problem set is to evaluate the thermal evolution of the oceanic lithosphere. As discussed in class, temperature in the oceanic upper mantle is well described by a half-space cooling model, in which ...