Science with Flubber: Glacial Isostasy part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
Using two sets of flubber, one representing the Earth and one representing a glacier, demonstrate how the crust sinks and rebounds to the weight of a glacier, and how this motion can be measured using GPS.Flubber is a rubbery elastic substance, a non-Newtonian elasco-plastic fluid, that flows under gravity, but breaks when under high stress. Flubber is useful for demonstrating a wide range of Earth and glacier processes.

Learning About Marine Sediments Using Real Data part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Kristen St. John, James Madison University
This exercise set explores marine sediments using real core photos and composition data from the scientific ocean drilling programs DSDP, ODP, and IODP in an inquiry-based approach.

An Introduction to Seismic Interpretation Using Open Source Software (OpendTect) part of Sedimentary Geology:Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Jeannette Wolak Luna, Tennessee Technological University
This is a series of three lab exercises integrating seismic interpretation and sedimentary geology. Each lab uses freely available software from dGB Earth Sciences, OpendTect. The seismic volume is the F3 Block in ...

Visualizing Global Earthquakes – Where and Why do Earthquakes Occur? part of Visualization:Examples
Cara Harwood, University of California-Davis
In this activity students visualize the distribution and magnitude of earthquakes at and below the surface of Earth and how their distribution is related to plate boundaries. Earthquakes are visualized on a 3D ...

Global Earthquakes: Teaching about Earthquakes with Data and 3D Visualizations part of Visualization:Examples
Cara Harwood, University of California-Davis
In this series of visualizations and accompanying activities, students visualize the distribution and magnitude of earthquakes and explore their distribution at plate boundaries. Earthquakes are visualized on a 3D ...

Visualizing Earthquakes at Divergent Plate Margins part of Visualization:Examples
Cara Harwood, University of California-Davis
In this activity students visualize the distribution and magnitude of earthquakes at divergent plate boundaries. Earthquakes are visualized on a 3D globe, making it easy to see their distribution within ...

Earth's Magnetic Field CogSketch geoscience worksheet part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Bridget Garnier, Blue Valley School
Sketching activity that uses a sketch-understanding program, CogSketch. To draw attention to the changes in magnetic inclination with latitude on Earth, students move, rotate, and match packages of "rock" ...

Sonar Demonstration -- Human Sound Wave part of Oceanography:Activities
Kent Syverson, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Sonar technology allowed scientists to produce high-resolution maps of the sea floor for the first time. This sonar demonstration uses a Human Sound Wave to image the "sea floor" in a lecture hall. In ...

Structural Geology 'Research' Conference part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Structure, , and Tectonics 2012:Activities
Julie Willis, Brigham Young University-Idaho
In this assignment students read and discuss a peer-reviewed journal article and prepare for and attend our class 'research' conference. In the conference they present on an area of current research as ...

Determining Mantle Temperature and Composition from Discontinuities part of Deep Earth:Activities
Anna Courtier, University of Wisconsin-Madison
This pair of activities uses observations of mantle discontinuity structure to examine mantle heterogeneity and differences in the depth extent of melt sources for ridges and "hotspots." The first ...

Taking the Pulse of Yellowstone's "Breathing" Volcano part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Structure, , and Tectonics 2012:Activities
Beth Pratt-Sitaula, EarthScope Consortium; Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
In this activity, students learn about volcanism in Yellowstone National Park, focusing on its history of eruptions, recent seismicity, hydrothermal events, and ground deformation. They learn how scientists monitor ...

Getting to know your smartphone magnetometer part of Cutting Edge:Enhance Your Teaching:Teaching with Online Field Experiences:Activities
Chris Rowan, Kent State University-Main Campus
An introduction to using a smartphone to acquire measurements of the local magnetic field strength and direction. The students locate the location of the sensor in the smartphone, characterise its measurement axes, ...

Introduction to Graphing GPS data | Lessons on Plate Tectonics part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
This activity emphasizes making graphs—in order to make interpreting graphs easier. Students graph data measuring how GPS stations move north or south and east or west. They begin by graphing fictitious data and progress to graphing data from several stations in the western United States. Eventually they graph north-south vs. east-west motion of a station in order to see that another purpose of plotting data is to make maps. They also develop intuition about vectors.

Point Cloud and Raster Change Detection part of Cutting Edge:Enhance Your Teaching:Teaching with Online Field Experiences:Activities
Sharon Bywater-Reyes, University of Northern Colorado; Beth Pratt-Sitaula, EarthScope
In this assignment, students difference point cloud and raster data sets to compare structure from motion (SfM) and terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) results. They interpret error in these methods used for ...

OpenTopography Data Sources and Topographic Differencing part of Cutting Edge:Enhance Your Teaching:Teaching with Online Field Experiences:Activities
Sharon Bywater-Reyes, University of Northern Colorado
In spring 2020, the world was hit by a pandemic that spread globally by March, causing universities and most of the world to move to remote means. Summer field camps, long hailed as a rite of passage in the ...

Earthquake Investigation Workshop: Shake, Rattle, & Rock part of Geodesy:Activities
Daniel Murray, University of Rhode Island
This workshop is part of an NSF-funded effort to provide professional development to STEM teachers in Rhode Island. In this activity, students will make "earthquakes" using a simple model, the earthquake ...

Visualizing Earthquakes at Convergent Plate Margins part of Visualization:Examples
Cara Harwood, University of California-Davis
In this activity students visualize the distribution and magnitude of earthquakes at convergent plate boundaries. Earthquakes are visualized on a 3D globe, making it easy to see their distribution within ...

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

Spatial Analysis of Raster Data - An Antarctic Example part of GIS and Remote Sensing:Activities2
Mark Helper, The University of Texas at Austin
Mark Helper, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Geological Sciences Summary Using Antarctic elevation and ice thickness raster data sets, this exercise uses tools available in the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst ...

Exercise 8: Using LiDAR and GPS data to model the water table in ArcScene part of GIS and Remote Sensing:Activities2
Barb Tewksbury, Hamilton College
Barbara and David Tewksbury, Hamilton College Tutorial for using the new LiDAR tools (LAS dataset and LAS toolbar) in ArcGIS 10.1 (Acrobat (PDF) 13.8MB Nov6 13). Same LiDAR Tutorial as a Word doc (Microsoft Word ...