LEGO® Magma Crystallization Activity part of Teach the Earth:Magma Labs
Jessica Larsen, University of Alaska Fairbanks
This exercise uses LEGO® Magma Crystallization Activity building blocks to demonstrate in a simple way how zoned crystals can form in magmas. The exercise also shows how the surrounding melt changes in composition ...

Magma Degassing and Eruption Style 2 part of Teach the Earth:Magma Labs
Jessica Larsen, University of Alaska Fairbanks
This activity provides an opportunity for students to work with real data collected from samples from the 2008 eruption of Okmok volcano, Alaska. The homework activity explores how magma gas content can be ...

Construction of a Korjinski Diagram part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Terri Woods, East Carolina University
An interactive powerpoint presentation walks students step-by-step through the process of generating a Korjinski diagram for the system K20-Al2O3-SiO2. Students will use the triangular diagram from the previous ...

Construction of a Triangular Stability Diagram part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Terri Woods, East Carolina University
An interactive powerpoint presentation walks students step-by-step through the process of generating a triangular diagram for the system K2O-Al2O3-SiO2. A Word document provides the thermodynamic data and ...

Creating a Partial Pressure Diagram for the Cu-CO2-O2-H2O System part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Terri Woods, East Carolina University
Students will be guided through the procedure for creating a partial-pressure diagram in the low-temperature system Cu-CO2-O2-H2O system for the minerals cuprite, tenorite, native copper, azurite, and malachite. ...

Rocking Through the Rock Cycle part of K-8 Geo Teacher Preparation:Workshop 2016:Activities
Mary Mutrux, Missouri State University
The students will participate as matter traveling through the rock cycle while drawing cards from 4 rock matter stations (magma, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic). Afterwards, the student will demonstrate their path using a laser pointer in a projected large the rock cycle diagram.

Freeze distillation of hard apple cider: A phase diagram demonstration part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
William Peck, Colgate University
If you are lucky enough to teach Petrology in a part of the world with a cold winter, freeze distillation of hard apple cider works well as a class demonstration when the cider is frozen overnight outside. The slow ...

"ZirChron" Virtual Zircon Analysis App part of Teaching Examples
Mark Schmitz, Boise State University
This web-based app is designed to help students evaluate a radioisotopic age and its uncertainty based upon the collection of data, the application of statistics, and the interpretation of geological and analytical ...

Introduction to Igneous Intrusions part of GET Spatial Learning:Teaching Activities
Basil Tikoff, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Students make Play-Doh models of sills and dikes.

Magma Degassing 1 part of Teach the Earth:Magma Labs
Jessica F Larsen, University of Alaska, Fairbanks (jflarsen@alaska.edu) Nathan A. Graham, University of Alaska, Fairbanks (nagraham2@alaska.edu)
This exercise introduces students to concepts of how magma gas content is important for eruption style. Students use the vesicles preserved in different volcanic rocks to estimate gas content by calculating ...

Virtual field trip to Giant's Causeway, Ireland part of Cutting Edge:Enhance Your Teaching:Teaching with Online Field Experiences:Activities
Jill Schneiderman, Vassar College
This online assignment takes the students on a virtual field trip to Giant's Causeway in northern Ireland. It begins with a brief video of the geological site, includes some questions relevant to the history ...

A Quantitative Visualization of Mantle Melting part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Spatial Reasoning with GeoClick Questions:Examples
Hannah Shamloo, Oregon State University
Here is an exercise to acquaint students with pressure-temperature diagrams related to Earth's interior, teach why the mantle melts in the context of pressure and temperature, demonstrate the role water has on melting, and review the three ways to melt the mantle.

Investigating Plate Tectonics with Google Earth part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Structure, Geophysics, and Tectonics 2012:Activities
Beth Pratt-Sitaula, EarthScope
Students examine data sets of topography, bathymetry, volcano location, earthquake location and size, and ocean floor age in Google Earth to determine the location and attributes of different types of plate ...

Theriak-Domino Exercise part of Teaching Examples
Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota-Main Campus
This multidimensional project involves using several different computer programs to calculate and interpret phase diagrams and pseudosections. So, students learn lots of skills at the same time. But, an overarching ...

Plate Tectonics as Expressed in Geological Landforms and Events part of MARGINS Data in the Classroom:MARGINS Mini-Lessons
Jeff Ryan, University of South Florida-St. Petersburg
This activity seeks to have students analyze global data sets on earthquake and volcano distributions toward identifying major plate boundary types in different regions on the Earth. A secondary objective is to familiarize students with two publicly available resources for viewing and manipulating geologically-relevant geospatial data: Google Earth(TM) and GeoMapApp.