Construction of a Korjinski Diagram part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Terri Woods, East Carolina University
An interactive powerpoint presentation walks students step-by-step through the process of generating a Korjinski diagram for the system K20-Al2O3-SiO2. Students will use the triangular diagram from the previous ...

Construction of a Triangular Stability Diagram part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Terri Woods, East Carolina University
An interactive powerpoint presentation walks students step-by-step through the process of generating a triangular diagram for the system K2O-Al2O3-SiO2. A Word document provides the thermodynamic data and ...

Student perspectives on climate discussions from the UN Conference of Parties (COP) via audio narrative part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Laura Guertin, Penn State Brandywine
This assignment provides students a storytelling structure that allows for their own voice and creativity to be applied. This is accomplished through the selection of an audience for a recorded voicemail and the ...

Using Carbon Isotopes in Astrobiology: Origin of Life and beyond part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Phoebe Cohen, Williams College
Carbon isotopes are used in many different ways by scientists to reconstruct Earth's past. For example, we can use carbon isotopes to determine when life first evolved on Earth, and to learn more about what ...

Indiana River Meanders Mapping Exercise part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Emily Zawacki, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
In Indiana, major rivers and their tributaries cross much of the state. These rivers can produce significant hazards related to flooding and erosion, which threaten nearby residents and infrastructure. Rivers are ...

OGGM-Edu Glaciology Lab 1: What Makes a Glacier? part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Lizz Ultee, Middlebury College
This is a three-part class or lab activity that challenges students to define what a glacier is, how it differs from other parts of the cryosphere (such as sea ice), and what kinds of glaciers there are in the ...

Episodic tremor and slip: The Case of the Mystery Earthquakes | Lessons on Plate Tectonics part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley Olds, UNAVCO
Earthquakes in western Washington and Oregon are to be expected—the region lies in the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Offshore, the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate subducts under the North American plate, from northern California to British Columbia. The region, however, also experiences exotic seismicity— Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS).In this lesson, your students study seismic and GPS data from the region to recognize a pattern in which unusual tremors--with no surface earthquakes--coincide with jumps of GPS stations. This is ETS. Students model ductile and brittle behavior of the crust with lasagna noodles to understand how properties of materials depend on physical conditions. Finally, they assemble their knowledge of the data and models into an understanding of ETS in subduction zones and its relevance to the millions of residents in Cascadia.

Measuring Ground Motion with GPS: How GPS Works (Demonstration) part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley Olds, UNAVCO
With printouts of typical GPS velocity vectors found near different tectonic boundaries and models of a GPS station, demonstrate how GPS work to measure ground motion.GPS velocity vectors point in the direction that a GPS station moves as the ground it is anchored to moves. The length of a velocity vector corresponds to the rate of motion. GPS velocity vectors thus provide useful information for how Earth's crust deforms in different tectonic settings.

Pinpointing Location with GPS Demonstration part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley Olds, UNAVCO
Using string, bubble gum, and a model of a GPS station, demonstrate how GPS work to pinpoint a location on Earth.Precisely knowing a location on Earth is useful because our Earth's surface is constantly changing from earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tectonic plate motion, landslides, and more. Thus, scientists can use positions determined with GPS to study all these Earth processes.

Converging Tectonic Plates Demonstration part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley Olds, UNAVCO
During this demo, participants use springs and a map of the Pacific Northwest with GPS vectors to investigate the stresses and surface expression of subduction zones, specifically the Juan de Fuca plate diving beneath the North American plate.