Investigating Earthquakes: GIS Mapping and Analysis (College Level)
Brian Welch, Saint Olaf College
This is a college-level adaptation of a chapter from the Earth Exploration Toolbook. The students download global quake data over a time range and use GIS to interpret the tectonic context. -

Analyzing the Antarctic Ozone Hole (College Level)
Brian Welch, Saint Olaf College
College-level adaptation of a chapter in the Earth Exploration Toolbook. Examine satellite images of atmospheric ozone in the Southern Hemisphere to study changes in concentration over a time. -

Weekly Reflections
Sara Rutzky, Wake Technical Community College
This is a weekly short writing assignment that forces students to summarize materials presented in class, to reflect on their own performance and understanding of the material, and to relate it to their individual ...

Shoreline Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise
Shelley Whitmeyer, James Madison University
This assignment uses the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) developed by the USGS to evaluate multiple factors that affect shoreline stability.

Simulating Satellite Orbits and Atmospheric Drag
Delores Knipp
Physics students are intrigued by activities in space. To link this natural curiosity with solid problem-solving skills, we developed a spreadsheet simulation for satellites moving through an atmosphere of variable ...

Atmospheric Vertical Structure and the First Law of Thermodynamics
Anthony Hansen, Saint Cloud State University
This set of homework problems is intended to help students begin to discover the importance and utility of conservation principles derived from the First Law of Thermodynamics and provide a first step in evolving from the p-V diagrams the students have seen in their physics coursework toward the thermodynamic diagrams used in meteorology.

Local Garbage in a Global Controversy
Angie Gumm, St. Mary's Parish Catholic School
This is a role-playing activity about the dioxin debate between Dr. Barry Commoner and Dr. Robert Brown about the resource recovery plant in Ames, Iowa, and the Nunavut Inuit. It addresses issues of environmental justice, risk assessment, and ideology in relation to the management of solid waste.

GeoSleuth Murder Mystery
Matthew d'Alessio, California State University-Northridge
A simple way to introduce both the principles of geology and the nature of scientific inquiry in a classroom murder mystery.

Poleward Heat Transport Jigsaw
E. Christa Farmer, Hofstra University
Based on great plate tectonic exercise by Sawyer et al. (2005 JGE), this small-group exercise with maps of data about earth's energy balance helps students visualize poleward heat transport.

Being P-Waves and S-Waves
Michelle Hall-Wallace (Science Education Solutions, Inc.) and Randall Richardson (University of Arizona, Tucson)
Teach students about P-waves and S-waves by having them model them with their own bodies. -

Whose Fault Is It Anyway?
Eric Muller
This game has students simulate the propagation of P and S waves after an earthquake and to use the lag between these to determine where in the simulation the earthquake occurred. -

Environmental Health Risk Inventory
Laurie Cantwell, Montana State University-Bozeman
In this activity, students perform an environmental health risk inventory of a selected locale. Students will address anthropogenic and natural health risks of an area using data collected from various online ...

Mineral Classification Exercise
Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota-Main Campus
This exercise gets students thinking about mineral classification and the properties that are most useful for classifying and identifying minerals.

Using Field Observations and Field Experiences to Teach GeoscienceAn Illustrated Community Discussion
Karen Grove, San Francisco State University
The introductory level course teaches geology majors basic skills in the context of a field-based problem, the integrating theme for the semester, so that they can more rapidly achieve an advanced skill level in ...

Examination of Igneous Silicates
Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota-Main Campus
Students study hand samples of light-colored igneous minerals and related mineral species. They look at some of the same minerals, and others, in thin section.

Crystallization and Melting of Diopside - Anorthite
Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota-Main Campus
This short exercise introduces students to the binary phase diagram in the diopside-anorthite system that contains a eutectic invariant point.

Modeling Glacier Erosion Through Time
Cathy Connor, University of Alaska Southeast
This lab could be adapted for an introductory geology course, upper division geomorphology course, or a climate change course. This activity is borrowed from John Harbor's paper in the Journal of Geoscience ...

Runaway Greenhouse Effect Exercise
Rebecca Teed, Wright State University-Main Campus
This site has a collection of role-playing exercises that provide the students with equations and data to use in collaborative problem-solving. -

Exercises to teach scientific reading comprehension and mineralogic concepts
Kurt Hollocher, Union College (Lincoln, NE)
With a set of tasks and questions as a guide, students read through an article doing the tasks and answering questions as they go. The object is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the science in the paper.

Hotspot Lesson: Final Project
Jamie A. Russell, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Related Links Relative Dating Hotspot Theory and Plate Velocities Mantle Plumes Samoan Hotspot View Lesson Plan at ERESE ...
Students form groups to work on a assigned hotspot chain. Each group gets to study a seamount trail from around the world and needs to present 15 slides that each have 3 main points and one nice graphical illustration or image.