Cracked, Bumpy and Beautiful: Earth's Surface part of Earth and Space Science:Summer 2010:Activities
Lisa Alexander
Using a variety or resources, students will plot the locations of mountain ranges,volcanoes and major earthquakes on a class map. Students will then hypothesize what may be creating concentrated areas of these ...

Student Field Guide part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Structure, Geophysics, and Tectonics 2012:Activities
Katherine Boggs, Mount Royal University
This activity was inspired by the "Pet Rock" project of Daryl Henry. I developed this activity to be a capstone experience for our students. During the fall 4th year field trip, students are responsible ...

The News Hour part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Structure, Geophysics, and Tectonics 2012:Activities
George Davis, The University of Arizona
An activity that I successfully used twice in teaching Active Tectonics is one I call "The News Hour," patterned after the PBS New Hour. I generated the idea out of concern that active tectonics sets of ...

Geologic Puzzles: Morrison Formation part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Interactive Lectures:Examples
Heather Macdonald, College of William and Mary
Images of faulted strata, tilted turbidites, and beach rocks bring the field into the classroom, giving students practice in doing what geoscientists do. These images are examples of geologic puzzles. -

Determining Earthquake Recurrence Intervals from Trench Logs part of Rates and Time:GSA Activity Posters
Patricia Cashman, University of Nevada-Reno
Trench logs of the San Andreas Fault at Pallett Creek, CA are the data base for a lab or homework assignment that teaches about relative dating, radiometric dating, fault recurrence intervals and the reasons for uncertainty in predicting geologic phenomena. Students are given a trench log that includes several fault strands and dated stratigraphic horizons. They estimate the times of faulting based on bracketing ages of faulted and unfaulted strata. They compile a table with the faulting events from the trench log and additional events recognized in nearby trenches, then calculate maximum, minimum and average earthquake recurrence intervals for the San Andreas Fault in this area. They conclude by making their own prediction for the timing of the next earthquake.

Visualizing Earthquakes at Convergent Plate Margins part of Visualization:Examples
Cara Harwood, University of California-Davis
In this activity students visualize the distribution and magnitude of earthquakes at convergent plate boundaries. Earthquakes are visualized on a 3D globe, making it easy to see their distribution within ...

Restraining Bends and Releasing Bends part of Spatial Thinking Workbook:Teaching Activities
Carol Ormand Ph.D., Carleton College
Students use gestures to re-create the motion of fault blocks adjacent to restraining bends and releasing bends. They then answer a few questions about a map view of the San Andreas Fault and two of its bends.

Primary Structures and Rotation part of Spatial Thinking Workbook:Teaching Activities
Carol Ormand Ph.D., Carleton College
Students gesture the orientations of cross-bedded sandstones, and in particular the relationship between a single cross bed and the bed sets. They do this for photos of undeformed and deformed cross-bedding.

Linear and Planar Features part of Spatial Thinking Workbook:Teaching Activities
Carol Ormand Ph.D., Carleton College
Students gesture the orientations of linear and planar features. In the first part of the exercise, students can only see one surface of a wooden block, and are asked to speculate about how planar features penetrate through the interior. Later, they uncover the other faces of the block and gesture the actual orientations.

Three-Point Problem by Simultaneous Linear Equations part of Quantitative Skills:Activity Collection
William Frangos, James Madison University
Students are introduced to the use of linear algebra in an intuitive and accessible way, through classroom activity and homework set. The familiar three-point problem is cast in terms of three dimensional analytic geometry, fostering understanding of mathematical models for simple geometric forms.