Groundwater Consulting Lab part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Karen Kortz, Community College of Rhode Island
Students are given a real-world scenario in this lab exercise in which they must determine the extent of groundwater contamination while staying within a budget. They progressively request more information and ...

Mineral Properties -- Learning through Experience part of Geoscience in Two-year Colleges:Activities
Katryn Wiese, City College of San Francisco
Students are each given a mineral and asked to locate all other students in the room with the same mineral (knowing there are a total of 5 different minerals). Once groups form, they need to decide what characteristics are similar for all their samples and ultimately report out to the whole class on their observations.

Introduction to Evolution (Historical Geology) part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Amber Kumpf, Muskegon Community College
This is a guided question note sheet with interactive elements linked within for an online course in Earth History or Historical Geology. NOVA evolution lab is one component, along with other introductory videos ...

Intro to Graphing part of Undergraduate Research:2014 Workshop:Activities
Debra Woodall, Daytona College
Intro to Graphing is a 2-phase exercise that introduces students to Excel for the purposes of properly storing their data and producing graphs.

Evaluating the lines of evidence for plate tectonics part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Teaching the Methods of Geoscience:Activities
Becca Walker, Mt. San Antonio College
In this in-class exercise, students compare several lines of evidence that support the ideas of continental drift and plate tectonics. Before the class meeting, each student is given a preparation assignment in which he/she studies one "continental drift" and one "ocean floor data" map. In class, students divide into teams of 3, with each team member having prepared different specialties. They discuss their respective maps and look for spatial patterns among the data.

Current Events Presentation Activity for Introductory Geoscience Classes part of Geoscience in Two-year Colleges:Activities
Eleanor Camann, Red Rocks Community College
For this two-part assignment, students first locate two substantial current events articles on geology-related topics from mainstream newspaper or magazine. The instructor assesses the articles, making sure that basic criteria have been met, and assigns one article for the student to share with the class in an informal 3-5 minute presentation.

Digging for Fossils part of Geoscience in Two-year Colleges:Activities
JoAnn Thissen
"Digging for Fossils": A student laboratory activity

VEPP: Determining the relationship between the summit and Pu'u 'O'o on Kilauea part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Volcano Exploration Project: Pu`u `O`o:Examples
Karen Kortz, Community College of Rhode Island
This is an exercise that is in development and will not be fully tested until Fall 2010. Please check back regularly for updates and changes. Brief three-line description of the activity or assignment and its ...

Geoscience education research project part of Undergraduate Research:2014 Workshop:Activities
Karen Kortz, Community College of Rhode Island
Students complete a scientific research project including asking a question, developing methods, collecting data, analyzing and interpreting data, and communicating results. The research question begins "What ...

How to be a field geologist: an in-class exercise to introduce students to basic outcrop analysis part of Geoscience in the Field:Activities
Becca Walker, Mt. San Antonio College
This in-class exercise is designed to give students practice analyzing outcrops before they go on a field trip. First, students watch a short video tutorial on analyzing an outcrop. Then, they are given a color ...

Diversity of Marine Life part of Oceanography:Activities
David Kobilka, Central Lakes College-Brainerd
In this project, students perform library research on an assigned marine animal, create a formatted poster of their topic, and share with their classmates what they've learned in a poster session, conducted ...

Crater Counting Lab exercise part of Rates and Time:Teaching Activities
Kevin Mullins, Coconino County Community College
This lab is designed to teach students how we can estimate the age of other planetary surfaces by counting and size-binning impact craters. It also illustrates some examples of how erosional or deopositional ...

Aurora Mastodont Project - Matrix Analyses Project part of Undergraduate Research:2014 Workshop:Activities
David Voorhees, Waubonsee Community College
This is a laboratory based assignment that is for Introductory level geoscience classes (Physical Geology, Historical Geology, Earth Science) that brings an authentic research experience to your students. In the ...

Developing Student Ability to Ask Scientific Questions part of Undergraduate Research:2014 Workshop:Activities
Kaatje van der Hoeven Kraft, Whatcom Community College
This activity is a two-part (three week) lab in which students initially develop a claim (non-scientific) and learn how to use evidence to support a claim. They then are provided with a scientific research question ...

Writing a hypothesis and designing an experiment for a high altitude balloon flight part of Undergraduate Research:2014 Workshop:Activities
David Kobilka, Central Lakes College-Brainerd
This is a small part of a much larger project in which students complete an high altitude balloon flight (HAB). In this part they complete a series of steps that encourage collaboration, communication, cooperation, ...

Earthquake Case Study part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Kaatje van der Hoeven Kraft, Whatcom Community College
This activity is a multiple case study analysis of different earthquakes that leads to student interpretation of claims, evidence and prediction/recommendations.

Beach Profiling, Observing and Documenting a Changing Environment, Point Lookout, NY part of Geoscience in Two-year Colleges:Activities
JoAnn Thissen
Using quantitative field methods to study shoreline erosion of a barrier beach. Students profile a beach and mechanically process sediment to document the changes along a shoreline.

Introduction to Mineral Identification part of Geoscience in Two-year Colleges:Activities
Suki Smaglik, Laramie County Community College
The exercise uses an inquiry-based approached to overcome the fear of tackling mineral identification. Few instructions are given and students discover for themselves how to approach identification.

Science in My Backyard part of Geoscience in Two-year Colleges:Activities
Allison Beauregard, Northwest Florida State College
In this lab report writing assignment, students will use the scientific method to solve a real life problem from their own lives. Students use the scientific method to record observations, develop a hypothesis, and set up their experimental design, which they then actually carry out. This approach allows students to practice using the process of science without the intimidation of scientific terms and concepts.

The Oil Game: Problem-based learning exercise in an Environmental Geology lecture-format class part of Geoscience in Two-year Colleges:Activities
David Voorhees, Waubonsee Community College
This is an active engagement exercise as a capstone exercise in a unit on energy in an Environmental Geology class of non-science majors combining a 'field-based' simulation and 'office-based' geological modeling. It uses readily available supplies and easily constructed equipment that can take 1 or 2 class meetings.