The Sleeping Mountain
In this role-playing scenario, students represent townspeople whose lives and livelihoods are endangered by an active volcano which may or may not erupt in the near future. -

Investigating Earthquakes: GIS Mapping and Analysis (College Level)
This is a college-level adaptation of a chapter from the Earth Exploration Toolbook. The students download global quake data over a time range and use GIS to interpret the tectonic context. -

Whose Fault Is It Anyway?
This game has students simulate the propagation of P and S waves after an earthquake and to use the lag between these to determine where in the simulation the earthquake occurred. -

Structural Control of Giant Rock Avalanches in Argentina
Students analyze the influence of bedrock structures on the locations of giant rock avalanches in Argentina. Activity is available in two versions: 1) short case example that can be used as an in-class activity or ...

Two streams, two stories... How Humans Alter Floods and Streams
An activity/lab where students determine the changes in 100-year flood determinations for 2 streams over time.

2004 Asian Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster Project
Students are employees of a unit of the United Nations responsible for coordinating disaster relief after a major disaster (the 2004 Asian Earthquake and Tsunami) occurs. The agency needs to understand the ...

Vectors and slope stability
An in-class activity or homework for graphically solving slope-stability problems with vectors.

Earthquake Location
Earthquake location is an interesting and significant aspect of seismology. A number of methods that vary from simple to complex are available for learning about earthquake location. The methods also allow ...

Earthquake! A Term Paper and Presentation Assignment
In this writing and oral presentaion assignment, students are challenged to assess a building site for a fictitious organization, the Society for Earthquake Enthusiasts. Each student must choose a historically ...

Izmit Earthquake
This lab allows students to analyze earthquake seismicity from the North Anatolian fault using a variety of methods.

What is Magnitude? Earthquake Magnitude By Analogy
Understanding magnitude scales by analogy to distance. Students use distance as a proxy for understanding how the logarithmic earthquake magnitude scale works. Very simple class or lab exercise for introductory ...

River Flooding and Erosion
Students take a real-life situation (river flooding and erosion), use real flood and map data, and make predictions and recommendations as to what to do to help alleviate the problem.

Floods on the Minnesota River
Students download and manipulate data from historical floods on the Minnesota River (could be done for any river) and use to establish a flood hazard zone for St. Peter, Minnesota. This lab was developed by ...

Earthquake Case Study
This activity is a multiple case study analysis of different earthquakes that leads to student interpretation of claims, evidence and prediction/recommendations.

Paleotempestology Lab
Paleotempestology Lab: this lab activity is designed to help students gain experience in relative and absolute dating techniques as well as a sense of how scientific investigations proceed.

Monument Creek hydraulics project
This is a several-part field and computer-based project that involves students in measurement of stream-channel geometry, basic stream-hydraulics calculations, and flood-frequency analysis. Its primary strengths ...

Volcanic Ejecta from Sunset Crater
Students are provided with equations and geological data to estimate the velocities and impact effects of volcanic bombs that were ejected during the last eruption of Sunset Crater, a young cinder cone volcano in ...

Volcanoes Writing Assignment
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
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
Students download earthquake data from the USGS Earthquake Hazards website and plot and anlyze the earthquakes using ArcMap and ArcScene.