Teaching Activities

Evolution of Extinct Animals part of Teaching Activities
Phil Novack-Gottshall, Benedictine University
A classroom/lab activity using the Paleobiology Database to produce and interpret diversity curves for various groups of important and popular extinct animals, such as trilobites, ammonites, and dinosaurs. Activity ...

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14), High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Online Ready
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity, Classroom Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Paleontology:Extinction and Diversity
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary, Passed Peer Review

Unit 5: Abating Carbon Emissions part of Regulating Carbon Emissions
Robyn Smyth, Bard College; Gautam Sethi, Bard College; Curt Gervich, SUNY College at Plattsburgh
Students evaluate the EPA's Clean Power Plan in the context of Common but Differentiated Responsibility. This unit also introduces students to the idea that there are costs and benefits associated with the ...

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14):College Introductory, College Lower (13-14)
Resource Type: Activities: Course Module, Activities:Classroom Activity:Short Activity:Think-Pair-Share, Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Environmental Geology, Environmental Science:Energy:Fossil Fuels, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Climate Change:Mitigation of climate change, Impacts of climate change, Public policy , Environmental Science:Energy:Energy Policy , Environmental Science:Sustainability, Policy, Economics, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Public policy, Impacts of climate change, Greenhouse gas emissions, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Greenhouse gas emissions, Environmental Science:Policy:Energy Policy
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review, Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Sea Ice Predictive Model part of Teaching Activities
Joceline Boucher, Maine Maritime Academy
This is a quick (~25 min) classroom activity designed to stimulate thinking about sea ice, climate change, and differences between Arctic and Antarctic conditions.

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity
Subject: Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Climate Change:Impacts of climate change
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review, Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Unit 1.2 - Role of Soil part of Critical Zone Science
Tim White, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
The focus on soil in this unit is accomplished by browsing and reading or browsing (in some detail) information from nine websites as well as a book chapter. This effort will help students to understand issues ...

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14), College Upper (15-16)
Resource Type: Activities: Course Module, Activities, Classroom Activity:Short Activity:Think-Pair-Share
Subject: Geoscience:Soils, Biogeosciences , Geology:Geomorphology:Weathering/Soils:Soils, Environmental Science, Soils and Agriculture
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary, Passed Peer Review

Unit 2: Mashing it up: physical models of deformation and strain part of GPS, Strain, and Earthquakes
Vince Cronin, Baylor University (Vince_Cronin@baylor.edu) Phil Resor, Wesleyan University (presor@wesleyan.edu)
Students gain an intuitive understanding of strain and deformation through a series of physical model activities using everyday materials such as bungee cords, rubber bands, fabric, index cards, silly putty, sand, ...

Grade Level: College Upper (15-16)
Resource Type: Activities: Course Module, Activities, Classroom Activity:Short Activity:Demonstration
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Structural Geology:Structural Visualizations, Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Geodesy, Geoscience:Geology:Structural Geology:Stress/Strain/Strain Analysis, Microstructures, Deformation Mechanisms, Fabrics, Rheology/Behavior of Materials, Modeling Structural Processes, Physics:General Physics:Vector Algebra
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Unit 2: Earth's Atmosphere and Its Influence on Temperature part of Earths Thermostat
Allison Dunn, Worcester State University; Phil Resor, Wesleyan University; Bob Mackay, Clark College
This unit investigates the role of the atmosphere on incoming solar and outgoing terrestrial radiation and analyzes modern trends in greenhouse gas concentrations. Students first investigate radiation spectra to ...

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14):College Introductory
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity:Short Activity:Think-Pair-Share, Course Module, Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Climatology :Atmospheric gases, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology :Global energy balance, Geoscience:Geology:Environmental Geology
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review, Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Deep Sea Microbes Jigsaw part of IODP School of Rock 2020:Teaching Activities
Beverly Owens, Cleveland Early College High School; Molly Ludwick, Kings Mountain Middle School
This activity will help students to explore characteristics of microbes that live in the deep sea. This activity can be conducted as a jigsaw or research project, and can be used with face-to-face, remote, and ...

Grade Level: High School (9-12), Middle (6-8)
Online Readiness: Online Ready
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Project:Independent Research, Activities:Classroom Activity:Jigsaw, Activities:Classroom Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Oceanography:Marine Resources, Environmental Science:Oceans and Coastal Resources, Biology:Microbiology, Biogeochemistry:Microbial Properties and Metabolism, Geoscience:Oceanography:Biological
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Lesson 1: Water Resources and Water Footprints (High School) part of Teaching Activities
Kai Olson-Sawyer, GRACE Communications Foundation
This lesson helps students understand why Earth is considered the "water planet." Students analyze how much of Earth's water is available for humans to use for life-sustaining purposes, and they ...

Grade Level: High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Online Ready
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity, Virtual Field Trip, Project
Subject: Environmental Science:Water Quality and Quantity:Water Conservation, Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water:Water supply/water resource evaluation, Water and society, policy, and management
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Understanding Earthquakes: Comparing seismograms part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Jennifer Pickering
Introductory lesson that contextualizes how multiple instruments provide a more complete picture on an event.

Grade Level: Intermediate (3-5), High School (9-12), Middle (6-8), College Lower (13-14)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity, Classroom Activity
Subject: Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Geoscience, Geology:Geophysics:Seismology
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

SIGkit (Software for Introductory Geophysics toolkit) for modelling and visualization of data part of Geophysics:Workshop 07:Geophysics Activities
Charly Bank, University of Toronto
Predicting what geophysical data may look like and making basic inferences from data are critical learning outcomes of introductory geophysics courses whether they happen in a classroom or in a field setting. This ...

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14):College Introductory, College Lower (13-14)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity, Classroom Activity, Field Activity, Problem Set
Subject: Geoscience:Paleontology:Extinction and Diversity , Paleoecology , Biostratigraphy/Biogeography , Online Resources/Computer Software , Evolution , Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Exploration Methods
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review