The Earth's Heat Budget part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
Hands-on laboratory activity that allows students to investigate the effects of distance and angle on the input of solar radiation at the Earth's surface; the role played by albedo; and the heat capacity of ...

Teaching geologic time and rates of landscape evolution with dice part of Rates and Time:GSA Activity Posters
Landscape evolution provides a convenient framework for understanding geologic time and rates because students can observe how processes like erosion and deposition shape their surroundings. In this example, students build 3-D sandbox models based on topographic maps and design and stage a "virtual adventure race." Sandbox landscapes are used to illustrate erosional processes,while local examples are used to discuss landscapes as transient or steady over different time- and length scales. Dice experiments illustrate radioactive decay and the shape of the age equation curve, and 14C dating, geochronology and thermochronology are introduced as "stopwatches" that start when a plant dies, a crystal forms, or a rock nears the surface and cools to a certain temperature. The sandbox model and thermochronometer "stopwatches" are combined to measure erosion rates and rates of landscape change. Ultimately, model rates (cm/hour) calculated from stopwatch times on the order of seconds can be related to geologic rates (km/My) calculated from real million-year-old samples.

Build Your Own Stream Table part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
Students will build a stream table and understand the importance of streams and rivers to the hydrologic cycle. A suite of labs can be done using the stream table, but each can also be a stand-alone exercise.

Guided Discovery and Scoring Rubric for Petrographic Analysis of a Thin Section part of Metacognition:Activities
A guided discovery approach is used to "unpack" the methods and observations used by "master" petrographers in the petrographic analysis of a thin section. A series of spread sheets are used to ...

Understanding Radioactivity in Geology: The Basics of Decay part of Quantitative Skills:Activity Collection
PowerPoint module leading students through creation and manipulation of spreadsheet to forward model an example of exponential decay—the number of remaining unpopped kernels of popcorn in a bag of popping popcorn.

Lab using Volcano Scenarios: Hazard Maps and Communicating Risk part of Student Learning: Observing and Assessing:Activities
This is a lab activity in which small groups of students work with maps, rocks, photographs of volcanic deposits, and textual data to construct a hazard map and a risk communication plan for a specific volcano. Each group is assigned a "volcano scenario," which is based on real volcanoes.

Geologic Mapping in a Classroom part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Indoor Labs:Examples
Combining rock description, map interpretation and other field skills to decipher the geology of an unknown region. -

Relative Dating of Geologic Materials part of Teacher Preparation:Resource Collections:Activities
This lessons allows students to constuct the basic principals used to understand relative geologic time and the skills used to construct the geologic time scale.

Rock and mineral laboratory exercises in large auditorium classes part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
These exercises provide an opportunity for students in large auditorium classes with "hands on" examination of typical rocks and minerals and their properties.

Geological Map Problem part of Student Learning: Observing and Assessing:Activities
This is a lab activity that is designed to help introductory, non-science majors integrate their geological knowledge near the end of the course. In this activity, students work in self-selected groups of up to four per group on the history of a sketch geological map.