Mysterious motions along the Pacific Northwest Coast
John Taber, IRIS Consortium
Students work in small groups to analyze and interpret Global Positioning System (GPS) and seismic data related to "mysterious ground motions" first along the northern California coastline, and then in ...

Seismic Design Competition
Eric Hultgren, Wheaton North High School (IL)
This project is a modified version of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Student Leadership Council's Seismic Design Competition. This project has teams of students work to research, plan, build and ...

Modeling Asperities with Spaghetti
Nicole LaDue, Northern Illinois University
This activity uses a physical model to facilitate students' understanding of elastic deformation of rocks and the episodic nature of motion on a fault, which leads to earthquakes and aftershocks.

Mt. St. Helens Volcanic Ashfall Eruption
Eileen Herrstrom, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
This activity takes place outside of the classroom and requires ~1 hour to complete. Students recreate the map of the Mt. St. Helens ash plume of 1980 and use their maps to answer a series of questions about this ...

Torn Pieces of a Newspaper
Christopher Roemmele, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
A successful unit on plate tectonics begins with engaging learners about the puzzle of the continents. Using "torn pieces of a newspaper" (Wegener's actual words), students recreate the newspaper ...

Induced Seismicity: Are humans causing earthquakes?
John Taber, IRIS Consortium
In this lab, students investigate a hotly debated topic relevant in the political, economic, and scientific arenas. They will examine the processes involved in unconventional oil and gas resource production, ...

What's Shaking in Greenland?
John Taber, IRIS Consortium
Students will work in small groups to compare the rate of icequake occurrence in Greenland to measured air temperature over time. This activity emphasizes the Earth systems concept by connecting seismic and ...

Comparing Human Population Trends
Diane Doser, University of Texas at El Paso
This activity uses demographic information from the United Nations publication "World Population Prospects" to explore the differences in population trends for the United States to Uganda including ...

Greenhouse Effect Lab
Krista Larsen, Carleton College
In this lab, students measure temperature changes inside soda bottles (one with CO2 added, the other with only air inside) as incandescent light is shined on them to model the Greenhouse Effect.

Is Warming Natural or Anthropogenic?
Cindy Shellito, University of Northern Colorado
Students use climate model output to compare past, present and future climate and consider the impacts of human activity on climate.

Overview: The Subduction Factory Mini-lessons
Ben Edwards, Dickinson College; Chris Kincaid, University of Rhode Island; Bob Stern, The University of Texas at Dallas; Sarah Penniston-Dorland, University of Maryland-College Park

Slicing Cylinders
Carol Ormand, Carleton College
Students identify and draw slices through cylinders and partial cylinders, and use gestures to visualize slicing planes. This practice with visualizing slices through idealized geometric shapes is preparation for visualizing slices through geological features.

Slicing Fruit
Tom Hickson, University of St. Thomas (MN)
Students identify and draw slices through fruit, as practice for drawing slices through more complex features.

Understanding Polyhedral Diagrams
Carol Ormand, Carleton College
Students identify individual polyhedra in a variety of diagrams and answer questions about shared oxygens in diagrams of common silicate structures.

Introduction to Google Earth
Mark W. Bowen, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Students utilize a variety of tools in Google Earth to answer questions

"ZirChron" Virtual Zircon Analysis App
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 ...

Earthquake Hazards: The next big one?
John Taber, IRIS Consortium
In this activity, students explore of the concept of probability and the distribution of earthquake sizes, and then work to understand how earthquake hazards are described by probabilities. Students then work in ...

Florida River Project - individual and group research project
Kim Hannula, Fort Lewis College
The Florida River Project is a semester-long project involving (1) an individual project in which students pose a scientific question and use existing data to test their hypothesis, and (2) a group project in which ...

Introduction to Scientific Journals
Avery Shinneman, University of Washington-Bothell Campus
In this activity, students are introduced to locating and reading peer-reviewed scientific journal articles. It helps ease students into the process of locating, reading, and using journal publications. This ...

Building Content Knowledge in a Student Research Team
Deanna van Dijk, Calvin College
At the beginning of a course-based research project, each student in a research team is asked to read primary literature related to the team investigation. A mix of provided readings and readings found by the ...