Introducing Geophysics for Urban and Near-surface Applications
The IGUaNA project team are developing teaching materials for introductory-level undergraduate science courses. These materials feature the applications of geophysical techniques to societally-relevant, real-world problems. The project team brings deep expertise in geophysics content and pedagogy to the development of the curricular materials. Three of the four modules are now published on the teaching materials page. Each of the modules is peer-reviewed, tested in undergraduate classrooms, revised, and then shared via this website. These NSF-funded resources are available free of charge.
Teaching Materials
Each of the topical modules, designed to take 1-3 weeks of class time, is intended for introductory-level undergraduate courses and focuses on the applications of a single geophysical method to questions or problems that affect local communities. The following modules are now available:
- Measuring Depth to Bedrock for an Urban Renewal Project explores the use of seismic refraction methods to evaluate the subsurface geology for an urban renewal project along Codorus Creek, in York, PA.
- Pipes, Tree Roots or Unmarked Graves? Forensic Geophysics has students analyze GPR data from surveys conducted to map utility lines (e.g., pipes and cables) or to locate unmarked graves.
- In Evaluating the Health of an Urban Wetland, students investigate the relationship between electrical resistivity and physical properties of the soil in Harrier Meadow and evaluate a hypothesis relating the distribution of plant species to groundwater salinity.
- Locating Subsurface Features using Gravity and Magnetics introduces students to the fundamentals of exploring the subsurface with gravity and magnetism.
Read more about the teaching materials.
For More Information
- Questions: education_AT_earthscope.org
- Interested in borrowing geophysical instruments for educational purposes? Check out EarthScope Geophysics Field Education page
- For more information: read About this project and the project team.
This work is supported by the Seismological Facility for the Advancement of Geoscience (SAGE) which is a major facility operated by the EarthScope Consortium and funded by the National Science Foundation under award EAR-1851048.