Understanding Doppler radar radial velocity fields
Aryeh Jacob Drager, State University of New York at Oswego
This activity is designed to help students learn how to interpret Doppler radial velocity radar images with meteorological applications, as well as giving students a chance to practice their spatial skills.

Activity 8: Equilibrium Experiment
Cameron Weiner, Middlebury College; Lisa Gilbert, Williams-Mystic
Students explore the systems thinking concepts of equilibrium and nonequilibrium with a water pouring experiment. Students complete the activity at home or virtually with videos. Water is poured from a top ...

Unit 3: Codorus Creek Case Study: Measuring and Interpreting Seismic Refraction Data
Andrew Parsekian, University of Wyoming
This unit presents an applied case study example and the associated concepts related to designing a seismic survey and analyzing the data. It discusses parts of the instrument and presents practical experience ...

Unit 1: Exploring Harrier Meadow, an Urban Wetland System
Lee Slater, Rutgers University-Newark
Students will conduct a virtual exploration of Harrier Meadow, a salt marsh in the New Jersey Meadowlands. They will identify its vulnerability to pollution, its tidal connection to the Hackensack Estuary and the ...

Activity 9: Feedback Loops Introduction
Cameron Weiner, Middlebury College; Lisa Gilbert, Williams-Mystic
Students are introduced to feedback loop vocabulary and experiment with different relationships between reservoirs in simple feedback loops using LOOPY, a free, online modeling program.

Measuring Plate Motion with GPS: Iceland | Lessons on Plate Tectonics
Roger Groom, Mt. Tabor Middle School; Cate Fox-Lent, UNAVCO; Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium; Nancy West, Quarter Dome Consulting; David Thesenga, Front Range Community College
This lesson teaches middle and high school students to understand the architecture of GPS—from satellites to research quality stations on the ground. This is done with physical models and a presentation. Then students learn to interpret data for the station's position through time ("time series plots"). Students represent time series data as velocity vectors and add the vectors to create a total horizontal velocity vector. They apply their skills to discover that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is rifting Iceland. They cement and expand their understanding of GPS data with an abstraction using cars and maps. Finally, they explore GPS vectors in the context of global plate tectonics.

Activity 3: Introduction to Systems Diagrams
Cameron Weiner, Middlebury College; Lisa Gilbert, Williams-Mystic
Students learn that systems diagrams can be useful to simplify and visualize complex problems. Working individually and with partners, students identify the system elements missing from a pre-made school water ...

Exploring California's Plate Motion and Deformation with GPS | Lessons on Plate Tectonics
Roger Groom, Mt. Tabor Middle School; Andy Newman, Georgia Institute of Technology; Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium; Cate Fox-Lent, UNAVCO; Nancy West, Quarter Dome Consulting; David Thesenga, Front Range Community College
Students analyze data to study the motion of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. From GPS data, students detect relative motion between the plates in the San Andreas fault zone--with and without earthquakes. To get to that discovery, they use physical models to understand the architecture of GPS, from satellites to sensitive stations on the ground. They learn to interpret time series data collected by stations (in the spreading regime of Iceland), to cast data as horizontal north-south and east-west vectors, and to add those vectors head-to-tail.Students then apply their skills and understanding to data in the context of the strike-slip fault zone of a transform plate boundary. They interpret time series plots from an earthquake in Parkfield, CA to calculate the resulting slip on the fault and (optionally) the earthquake's magnitude.

Climate Change: Past & Present, Local & Global
Cheryl LB Manning, OrbWeaver Consulting, LLC; Rondi Davies, CUNY City College; Paul Ashwell, University of Toronto Mississauga; Erica Bigio, University of Nevada; Jesse Kelsch, Sul Ross State University; Mark Peebles, St. Petersburg College; Xin Sun, Princeton University
Average inquiry level: Guided inquiry In this laboratory exercise for introductory geology or environmental science courses, students use data to examine climate change in their local environment. They compare ...

Lesson 2: My Water Footprint (Middle School)
Kai Olson-Sawyer, GRACE Communications Foundation
This lesson centers on a deeper exploration of the water footprint associated with food. Students learned in Lesson 1 that virtual water, especially as it relates to food, typically makes up the majority of their ...