Teaching Activities

Identifying and Classifying Sedimentary Rocks in Thin Section
Rachel Walters, University of Florida
This is an online activity introducing students to the basic identification and classification of the textural and compositional characteristics of sedimentary rocks in thin section.

Having Students Create an Online Discussion Board Forum: Recent Oceanographic Info in the News & A Beautiful Question
Al Trujillo, Palomar College
An online Discussion Board Forum is a great tool for facilitating student interaction. If done well, discussion boards not only deepen learning, they can also build class community, an essential element for ...

Virtual Soil Classification
Karen Rose Cercone, Indiana University of Pennsylvania-Main Campus
After watching a video, students classify soils using a ternary soil diagram and run online computer models to see how the proportion of sand, silt and clay affect drainage. Students then use the ternary soil ...

Volcano Lab - Google Earth
Tamara Misner, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Volcano shape is strongly controlled by eruptive style, which in turn is controlled by magma composition and tectonic setting. This lab utilizes Google Earth, which takes students on a virtual field trip, in order ...

How Many and What Location did M5.0 or Larger earthquakes Occur During a Four-Day Period?
Michael Hernandez, Weber State University
Every week, numerous potentially damaging earthquakes occur around the world. To demonstrate the frequency geography of these earthquakes, you will use U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY's Earthquake Tracker, an online ...

Digital poster of rocks and minerals
Aida Farough
This project is designed based on 21st century skills and to help students engage in, experience, explore and evolve science. As a part of the activity students create a digital poster (infographic) using free ...

Landslide Hazard Site Assessments
Beth Hallauer, Sinclair Community College
In this project students will first research the landslide-prone Seattle area using provided websites to gather background and perspective for the second part of the assignment. In the second part of the assignment ...

Happyville Water Table Contour Map
Jennifer Sliko, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
In this activity, students create and interpret a water table contour map. Students utilize groundwater well elevations and the depth to the water table at each well to determine the water table elevation at each ...

Writing Assignment for Marine Biology
Anthony Santorelli, Anne Arundel Community College
Students write about the important aspects of a species of sea life, including physical characteristics, habitat, behaviors and interaction with humans and also provide a video that addresses that sea life along ...

Using Predictive Demos in an Oceanography 100 Online Course
Al Trujillo, Palomar College
Physical demonstrations of physical processes are a key component of most geoscience courses and serve to help deepen student understanding of complex processes. How does one do this for online courses? I filmed ...