Introductory Earth Systems Science and Environmental Geology courses with labs. (see the course profile)

None.

This activity takes the entire semester, and includes three lab periods, related activities in three more labs, two homework assignments, a presentations, and a paper.

Discharge, affects of climate on river systems, affects of land use on river systems, water quality. Includes portions of labs on minerals and rocks.

Formulation of hypotheses, analysis of data.

Reading topographic maps, graphing by hand and with Excel, writing, giving oral presentations, working collaboratively.

This group research project serves as the focus for our introductory Earth Systems Science classes. Each of four to six lab sections of 15-25 students collect discharge, sediment load, and water chemistry data from a different site along a local river, and compare their data to that collected in previous years and at other sites along the river. The project incorporates topographic map reading and graphing as well as collecting and analyzing data, and presenting the results in oral and written form. Labs on rocks and minerals use samples from the project area to encourage students to make connections between the solid Earth and surface processes.

Each component of the Florida River Project is described below, with a link to the activity sheet and related files.

• Topographic Maps: Integrated Florida River project
• Florida River Project: Minerals in the field
• Florida River Project: Sedimentary and metamorphic rocks lab
• Florida River Project: Plotting discharge data
• Plotting Florida River Data Using Excel
• Florida River Project: Measuring discharge, sediment, and water chemistry

Each section of the project is graded separately. The grading for the associated labs and homework assignments is described on separate activity pages. The background is evaluated based on its level of detail, on whether the information is an accurate reflection of what is known, and on whether the writing is coherent. The hypothesis is graded based on whether it is reasonable. The data collection is graded based on participation - if students are there and actively participating in group work, they get credit. The presentations and paper are graded based on a rubric that includes both the quality of the presentation or writing, on whether they include required components (such as discussion of graphs), and on the quality of the analysis of the data.