Relative and Absolute Geologic Time with Maps and Spreadsheets
Eileen Herrstrom, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
This activity takes place in a laboratory setting and takes ~1.5-2 hours to complete. Students apply stratigraphic principles for relative dating and basic equations of isotopic systems for absolute dating and ...

Counting Critters: Using the Paleobiology Database to track fossil diversity through geologic time
Rowan Lockwood, College of William and Mary
Students learn how to use the Paleobiology Database (PBDB) to develop a diversity curve showing changes in global biodiversity through time. They then use this curve to explore major events in the history of life, ...

My Geologic Address: Locating Oneself in Geologic Time and Process
Kip Ault, Lewis & Clark College
Students locate their homes on local, regional, and global scale geologic maps. They build up an "address" describing their location in geological terms based on the features of the maps, from local bedrock to regional and global tectonic features.

Global Change in Local Places
DATA: SHALDRIL Core Data; NOAA Pollen data TOOL: GeoMapApp SUMMARY: Import Antarctic sediment core data files into GeoMapApp to create maps and graphs. Use data to infer past climate conditions based on current vegetation distributions.

A LONG, LONG time ago: geologic timescales
Elizabeth Johnson, James Madison University
Students compare their pre-conceived impressions of events on the geologic time with the actual positions of these events on a 45.5' geologic timescale.

Life through Time: Investigating biostratigraphy wth the PBDB
Christian George, High Point University
Students learn how to use the Paleobiology Database (PBDB) to investigate the basic principles of biostratigraphy, including, index fossils and how fossils were used to construct the geologic timescale.

Tracking Sea Level and Paleoenvironments with Fossils
Pete Berquist, Virginia Peninsula Community College
Students use the Paleobiology Database Navigator to examine changes in sea level in southeastern North America throughout the Cretaceous, Paleogene, and Neogene Periods. They will plot the change in distribution of ...

Old Sticks in the Mud: Hazards of Lahars from Mount Rainier Volcano
Patrick Pringle, Centralia College
Volcanic debris flows (lahars) flow long distances, bury and aggrade river valleys, and cause long-term stream disturbances and dramatic landscape changes. Students will evaluate the nature, scale, and history of ...

Ordering Geologic Events and Interpreting Geologic History: The Grand Canyon
Jennifer Wenner, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
This activity is designed to have students re-examine rocks they looked at earlier in the semester and use them to interpret some of the geologic history of the Grand Canyon.

Plate Motions
Jeffrey Nunn, Louisiana State University
Students are asked to removed the last 40 Ma of ocean crust from an isochron map and then put the plates back together. This exercise helps students see that plates and plate boundaries canNOT be stationary through ...