Igneous Rocks and Triangle Diagrams part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Eileen Herrstrom, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
This activity takes place in a laboratory setting and requires ~1.5-2 hours to complete. Students observe igneous rock compositions and plot them on triangle diagrams, normalize rock compositions using a ...

Exploring Spreadsheets with Microsoft Excel part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Eileen Herrstrom, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
This activity takes place in a laboratory setting and requires ~1.5-2 hours to complete. Students work with a large set of earthquake data, examine types of charts available in Excel, and use a spreadsheet to ...

Seafloor Spreading: Bathymetry, Anomalies, and Sediments part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Eileen Herrstrom, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
This activity takes place in a laboratory setting and requires ~1.5-2 hours to complete. Students study the bathymetry of the South Atlantic, use magnetic reversals to interpret marine magnetic anomalies, and ...

Feldspar Minerals and Triangle Diagrams part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Eileen Herrstrom, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
This activity takes place in a laboratory setting and requires ~1.5-2 hours to complete. Students learn how to read a triangle or ternary diagram. They determine physical properties of feldspars and interpret two ...

Working with State, National, and Global Petroleum Data part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Eileen Herrstrom, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
This activity takes place in a laboratory setting and requires ~1.5-2 hours to complete. Students work with data on oil production in Illinois, the United States, and the world, creating graphs to interpret data on ...

Student-Generated Earth Science Podcasts for a Community Partner part of Service Learning:Activities
Laura Guertin, Penn State Brandywine
A semester-long audio recording project, defined by the needs of a community organization, engages students in not only learning new content but sharing their new knowledge beyond classroom walls (and beyond the ...

The folded moraine of Tokositna Glacier part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Activities
Peter Moore, Iowa State University
Using satellite imagery of the Tokositna Glacier (AK, USA), students digitize a folded medial moraine and make simple computations to infer the progressive development of strain in the glacier.

Feldspar Mineral Chemistry Using the FCAEM Remotely Operable Electron Probe Micro-Analyzer. part of Mineralogy:Activities
Sven Holbik and Rosemary Hickey-Vargas, Florida International University
This lab uses the remote operation of an Electron Probe Micro-Analysis (EPMA) available through the Florida Center for Analytical Electron Microscopy (FCAEM; https://fcaem.fiu.edu/), at Florida International University, Miami, to explore feldspar mineral chemistry. This lab explores detailed mineral chemistry, data normalization, and plotting compositional ranges on ternary diagrams suitable as an introductory assignment in a Mineralogy, Earth Materials, or Petrology course. This instructor-led interactive demonstration of remote Electron Microprobe use introduces students to microprobe analysis, x-ray analytical techniques, standardization, image analysis, normalization, mineral formulas and composition. The instructor can acquire images (optional) of samples containing feldspar (provided by FCAEM or instructor's samples) then select multiple points for analysis. This activity captivates student's attention and provides a hands-on instrument-led approach to introducing undergraduate students to chemical analysis and vital concepts in mineralogy and petrology.

PHYSICAL EXPERIMENT ON ELASTIC AND NEWTONIAN RHEOLOGY part of Structural Geology:Activities
Basil Tikoff, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Simple physical models with rubber sheet (elastic rheology) and clear silicon putty (silicon "goo"; linear viscous rheology) help students conceptualize and describe quantitatively strain and stress in ...

Building Strong Geoscience Departments part of Strong Geoscience Departments
On the Cutting Edge --- Building Strong Geoscience Departments managed by NAGT WorkshopsStrong Teaching Developing Pathways to Strong Geoscience Programs for the Future Defining Strong Departments Characteristics ...