Part of GETSI Field Collection: Geodetic imaging technologies have emerged as critical tools for a range of earth science research applications from hazard assessment to change detection to stratigraphic sequence analysis. In this module students learn to conduct terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) and/or Structure from Motion (SfM) surveys to address real field research questions of importance to society. Both geodetic methods generate high resolution topographic data and have widespread research applications in geodesy, geomorphology, structural geology, and more. The module can be implemented in four- to five-day field course or as several weeks of a semester course. Prepared data sets are available for courses unable to collect data directly. Instructors can request support for equipment loans and some types of technical assistance from UNAVCO, which runs NSF's Geodetic Facility. Show more about Online Teaching suggestions HideOnline teaching: Elements of this module are online-adaptable. Prepared Data Sets and Remote Field Teaching provides data sets that can be used in lieu of student field data collection and an example of how GETSI field modules were used in a remote field course. Webinar about teaching this module: Integrating GPS, SfM, and TLS into Geoscience Field Courses

In this three-week module, students will investigate the ecosystem services associated with local land use and its relation to water. Students will be introduced to ecosystem services as a way of integrating the components of the hydrologic cycle as a system, synthesizing the interaction between the hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere, and linking those processes to the needs and aspirations of particular communities in particular places. Rezoning, annexation, and land-use changes are some of the most common issues that come before local governing bodies; many of these changes involve natural areas and green spaces becoming industrial, commercial, or residential developments. By the end of the module, students will be equipped to actively engage in the public dialogues that are typically part of the process, from understanding and analyzing a problem to presenting reasonable solutions from particular stakeholders' perspectives.

This module addresses both aspects of climate literacy: understanding of climate science through data analysis and interpretation, and understanding of literary tools and techniques through which climate science is portrayed. The module is designed to be completed in introductory natural science classes where literature is not typically included as well as in humanities classes where climate change science is not normally addressed. Students will engage in activities that address both climate change science and climate change literature, including graphing data, working in groups to analyze and interpret data, creating a concept map, conducting rhetorical analyses, and writing and responding to a blog.

This course introduces and examines the Critical Zone (CZ), Earth's permeable layer that extends from the top of vegetation to the bottom of the fresh groundwater zone. It is a constantly evolving boundary layer where rock, soil, water, air, and living organisms interact to regulate the landscape and natural habitats, and determine the availability of life-sustaining resources, including our food production and water quality. CZ science is a highly interdisciplinary and international pursuit that depends upon effective and informed trans-disciplinary science. This course focuses on the large quantity of interdisciplinary data available from the existing National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded CZ Observatories (CZO) and utilizes readings, discussions, presentations, and cutting-edge learning activities.

This module enables Spanish-language students to identify the freshwater components of the hydrologic cycle and connect them to the basic need of all human beings for equal access to clean freshwater. This is accomplished by framing the water science within theories of environmental justice defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as "the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." Students articulate the principles of environmental justice as they relate to examples of water scarcity and contamination in specific cases in Latin American and the Southwest U.S.

This module gives pre-service secondary science teachers the opportunity to use and reflect on geoscientific thinking. The module begins with an exploration of how geoscience methods are similar to and different from the stereotypical experimental scientific method. Then, students use methods of geoscience (e.g., systems thinking, multiple converging lines of evidence, developing spatial and temporal frameworks) in a data-rich, interdisciplinary exploration of the human impacts of global climate change. They will use spatial and temporal data, data visualizations and Google Earth to address the scientific question "To what extent are coastal communities at risk due to climate change?" and the socio-scientific issue "To what extent should we build or re-build coastal communities?" Finally, pre-service teachers explore high-quality, freely available curricular resources to develop a standards-based, interdisciplinary lesson that embeds geoscientific thinking and content as part of biology, chemistry, Earth science, physics or social science instruction. Pre-service teachers further explore societal impacts in the lessons that they develop. The module can be taught in 6-12 hours of class time, plus substantial homework.

Understanding how the Earth's crust deforms is crucial in a variety of geoscience disciplines, including structural geology, tectonics, and hazards assessment (earthquake, volcano, landslide). With the installation of numerous high precision Global Positioning System (GPS) stations, our ability to measure this deformation (strain) has increased dramatically, but GPS data are still only rarely included in undergraduate courses, even for geoscience majors. In this module students analyze GPS velocity data from triangles of adjacent GPS stations to determine the local strain. Students learn about strain, strain ellipses, GPS, and how to tie these to regional geology and ongoing societal hazards. A case study from the 2014 South Napa earthquake helps students make connections between interseismic strain and earthquake displacements. Show more about Online Teaching suggestions HideOnline teaching: Unit 1, Units 3-6 are online-ready. Unit 2 is not appropriate for online but the module can be done without it. See unit pages for details. Webinar about teaching this module: Addressing Earthquake Hazards with LiDAR, GPS, and InSAR in Upper-level Undergraduate Courses For introductory-level treatment of GPS and plate motions, please see Measuring the Earth with GPS - Unit 2

Part of GETSI Field Collection: In this module, students will learn the fundamentals of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, a more universal term than GPS) and how to apply these techniques beyond answering, "Where am I?" This module teaches how high-precision positioning enables geoscientists to track changes in the surface of the earth that would otherwise be imperceptible. Through brief classroom lectures, demonstrations, and field exercises, students learn both kinematic and static positioning techniques. This module is field-focused, minimizing lectures and computer work and maximizing student time spent designing and implementing surveys as well as analyzing the new data. Most units require half to a full day to execute, although some waiting time may be required for post-processing satellite data. Some prepared data sets are available for courses unable to collect data directly. Instructors can request support for equipment loans and some types of technical assistance from EarthScope Consortium, which runs the NSF's Geodetic Facility. Show more about Online Teaching suggestions HideOnline teaching: Elements of this module are online-adaptable. Prepared Data Sets and Remote Field Teaching provides data sets that can be used in lieu of student field data collection and an example of how GETSI field modules were used in a remote field course. Webinar about teaching this module: Integrating GPS, SfM, and TLS into Geoscience Field Courses

In this module, students use lidar and InSAR data to understand the earthquake cycle, from individual earthquakes to landscape-forming timescales. This is motivated by consideration of earthquake hazards, specifically the vulnerability of the infrastructural lifelines upon which society depends. Five units are provided, including lecture materials, discussions, paper exercises, group activities that can be deployed either as gallery walks or computer exercises, an exercise for modeling InSAR data using an online tool, and a culminating assignment. These materials are intended for inclusion in upper-level undergraduate classes in structural geology, tectonics or geophysics. Show more about Online Teaching suggestions HideOnline teaching: This module is online-ready. Some elements are best done synchronously. See unit pages for details.

The Lead in the Environment module is designed to integrate multiple disciplines to inform solutions to the ongoing burden of childhood lead poisoning. This module addresses the systems dynamics of lead within the human body, in individual households, and in communities and regions over time. Students use real data reflecting the distribution of residual lead in the environment and the incidence of elevated blood lead levels to explore patterns of disparities in both risk and health outcomes. Students evaluate policy strategies that have been developed across multiple agencies and scales and recommend appropriate courses of action to reduce risk of exposure.

This module connects students' personal sensory experiences to environmental data collected and analyzed by geoscientists, cultural impacts documented by social scientists, and the communication of environmental conditions and advocacy for remedial action crafted by rhetoricians. Sensory data (specifically smells and sounds) will be collected and used to trace the movement of contaminants through the environmental system. While geoscientists may ultimately rely upon chemical analyses of water, soil, and air samples, the initial impact of contamination is most often noted when people detect sensorial alterations of their lived spaces. Mapping sensory impacts will help students develop an understanding of how contaminants move through the natural environment; how data is collected to identify contaminants, monitor movement, and identify sources; and how individuals living in proximity to environmental hazards are directly impacted by those hazards. Students will also examine the ways in which information about environmental hazards is conveyed to different audiences and will apply their understanding by developing maps that convey the data they have collected to a specific audience.

Measuring water resources such as groundwater and snowpack is challenging, but the advent of satellite gravity measurements and hydrologic GPS applications can augment traditional methods. This module gives students the unique opportunity to learn these newer methods alongside more traditional ones of groundwater wells and SNOTEL stations. They determine the pros/cons, uncertainty, and spatial scales of different methods. Droughts in the High Plains Aquifer and California are used as case studies. In the summative assessment, students pull together what they have learned and write a report with recommendations for policy makers. Show more about Online Teaching suggestions HideOnline teaching: Unit 1 is online-adaptable. The rest of the module is online-ready. Some elements are best done synchronously. See unit pages for details. Webinar about teaching this module: Addressing Water Resources and Sustainability in Upper-level Undergraduate Courses For introductory-level treatment of water resources, please see Eyes on the Hydrosphere: Tracking Water Resources and Measuring the Earth with GPS - Unit 4

In this course, we develop the qualitative and quantitative tools for constructing, experimenting with, and interpreting dynamic models of different components of the Earth system. The integrated set of ten modules within this course explores a range of systems that all relate to the dynamics of Earth's climate, including interactions with humans. The course is aimed at an intermediate-level geoscience student with some knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology, which form the foundation for building and understanding computer models of these systems.

This course will explore a variety of sustainable technologies with emphasis on understanding the fundamental scientific properties underlying each. Students will also examine appropriate applications of the technologies and evaluate their use with environmental and economic considerations. The goal of this course is to teach basic geosciences principles through an exploration of environmentally sustainable technologies. The course consists of eleven modules, each of which can be used independently of the others. The course is designed to be open to all undergraduate students on a college campus and its interdisciplinary approach is served by a diverse enrollment. Students will explore how each technology works, its importance in addressing one or more grand challenges in the geosciences, and the social and economic implications associated with that technology and competing approaches. Pedagogy will stress hands-on experimentation and learner-centered approaches. The design will minimize the role of lecturing and promote a variety of active learning approaches in a flipped classroom setting.

This inquiry based module is designed for use in a preservice K-8 science methods course, but Units 1-3 could easily be modified for other types of courses. The module promotes geoscientific and systems thinking and emphasizes strong interdisciplinary connections between science content and society through locally relevant issues. This module consists of course discussions, map analysis, hands-on soil investigations, concept mapping of Earth systems, and the development of a standards-aligned K-8 Soils, Systems, and Society Kit composed of lesson plans, data sources, activities and artifacts for use in future elementary and middle school classrooms.

This nine-unit module addresses the grand challenge of water system sustainability in cities, and includes aspects of hydrologic and atmospheric processes, clean water, low-impact development, green infrastructure, flood risk, and climate variability. The module consists of nine integrated lessons spanning approximately three weeks of classroom instruction. The lessons use data-driven exercises and the flipped classroom pedagogical approach. The lessons provide a foundation in urban water systems, basic hydrologic and atmospheric processes, and sustainable and resilient infrastructure planning and decision making. Overall, the module highlights the benefits of the interconnections of geoscience, engineering, and other disciplines in the pursuit of water sustainability in cities.