Measuring Plate Motion with GPS: Iceland | Lessons on Plate Tectonics part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
This lesson teaches middle and high school students to understand the architecture of GPS—from satellites to research quality stations on the ground. This is done with physical models and a presentation. Then students learn to interpret data for the station's position through time ("time series plots"). Students represent time series data as velocity vectors and add the vectors to create a total horizontal velocity vector. They apply their skills to discover that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is rifting Iceland. They cement and expand their understanding of GPS data with an abstraction using cars and maps. Finally, they explore GPS vectors in the context of global plate tectonics.

Exploring California's Plate Motion and Deformation with GPS | Lessons on Plate Tectonics part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
Students analyze data to study the motion of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. From GPS data, students detect relative motion between the plates in the San Andreas fault zone--with and without earthquakes. To get to that discovery, they use physical models to understand the architecture of GPS, from satellites to sensitive stations on the ground. They learn to interpret time series data collected by stations (in the spreading regime of Iceland), to cast data as horizontal north-south and east-west vectors, and to add those vectors head-to-tail.Students then apply their skills and understanding to data in the context of the strike-slip fault zone of a transform plate boundary. They interpret time series plots from an earthquake in Parkfield, CA to calculate the resulting slip on the fault and (optionally) the earthquake's magnitude.

Earth's Climate: Past, Present and Future part of Introductory Courses:Courses
Earth's climate has changed dramatically over its history moving between completely ice-free intervals to periods of global glaciation. This course will examine how and why these changes occurred by ...

Virtual Fieldtrip to Baraboo, WI, with StraboSpot part of Enhance Your Teaching:Teaching with Online Field Experiences:Activities
Basil Tikoff, University of Wisconsin-Madison
This activity is a virtual field trip to the Baraboo area of southern Wisconsin. The StraboSpot digital data system is used to show the data, including the spot functionality to view outcrops at multiple spatial ...

GEO 303 Introduction to Geology part of Introductory Courses:Virtual Workshop 2014:Course Descriptions
Laurie Duncan
GEO 303 is a comprehensive survey of geological science that includes physical and historical geology in one semester. Emeritus UT geology professor, Leon E. Long, designed GEO 303 and has taught the course in our ...

Homework assignments for Intro Geology part of Introductory Courses:Activities
John Leland, Glendale Community College
These homework assignments consist of vocabulary and questions used as the basis for classroom discussion, guided reading, and as the basis for exams. Testing on these assignments rewards students for work already ...

Course profile: Geodynamics I & II part of Strong Geoscience Departments:Degree Programs:Courses
University of Minnesota Entry level earth science course sequence, 16-30 students Information for this profile was provided by Martin Saar and Donna Whitney in 2007. Jump down to Overview and Context * Course ...

Course profile: Geodynamics I & II part of Strong Geoscience Departments:Degree Programs:Courses
University of Minnesota Entry level earth science course sequence, 16-30 students Information for this profile was provided by Martin Saar and Donna Whitney in 2007. Jump down to Overview and Context * Course ...