Richmond's Urban Heat Island part of Activities
Students will be asked questions regarding the causes and impacts of the UHI. They will also be asked to apply this knowledge to two real-world settings and analyze data collected at both locations.

Mapping extensional crack arrays in asphalt as normal fault system physical analogues part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Activities
Students map extensional crack arrays in asphalt, at full-scale, using long pieces of inexpensive craft paper and markers, map the connections between individual cracks in the arrays, and study (descriptively) ...

How Fast Do Materials Weather? part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Interactive Lectures:Examples
A think-pair-share activity in which students calculate weathering rates from tombstone weathering data. -

Sandbox modeling part of Activities
Students deform layers of colored sand to simulate features they observe in city. They construct topo maps and cross-sections based on the results of the sandbox experiment. The model is then the basis for ...

GeoSleuth Murder Mystery part of Activities
A simple way to introduce both the principles of geology and the nature of scientific inquiry in a classroom murder mystery.

Discovering Plate Boundaries part of Activities
Discovering Plate Boundaries is a classroom activity designed to introduce students to the process of observing and classifying data, in addition to the fundamentals of plate tectonics.

Hydrology Service-Learning at UVM part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Service Learning:Examples
At the University of Vermont, instructors used land use change, driven by development of the University of Vermont campus and recent student occupancy of surrounding neighborhoods in Burlington, Vermont, as an opportunity for service learning and for teaching fundamental hydrologic and geologic skills. Students from a Geomorphology class, Geohydrology class and student senior research projects all worked on the preoject. In each of these studies, students worked closely with City and University staff and presented results at local forums, professional national meeting, and on the World Wide Web. These service-learning projects have received positive feedback from the students, city officals, and community members.

Campus Nitrogen Budget part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Campus Living Laboratory:Examples
Link the college or university operations with local ecology. In this study, students use a tool from urban ecology, the nitrogen budget, to research the inputs, outputs and subsytem transfers of nitrogen on the ...

Campus Mapping Tour part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Activities
This exercise allows students to learn how to produce a geologic map. Students will pair up and explore campus as a "virtual" field area. This works well in areas where outcrop is generally sparse, but ...

Analysis of Sidewalk Fractures part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Activities
Using fractures in sidewalks as an analog for natural outcrops, students learn to make systematic observations, measure the orientation and location of fractures, manipulate and analyze data, and consider some ...