Teaching Activities

Earth education activities from across all of the sites within the Teach the Earth portal.

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Middle (6-8)
Environmental Science

Results 31 - 40 of 356 matches

Earthquake Intensity part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Jennifer Pickering
Introductory lesson that compares ShakeMaps between earthquakes in the same location but different magnitudes, and earthquakes of the same magnitude but different depths, to acquaint learners to the fundamental controls on intensity of shaking felt during an event: magnitude and distance from the earthquake source.

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

Student-Generated Sustainability Short Stories Anchored in Science and Information Literacies and the SDGs part of Teaching Activities
Laura Guertin, Penn State Brandywine
To build and improve upon their science and information literacies, students create a collection of short non-fiction stories that connect to at least one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ...

Grade Level: College Upper (15-16), College Lower (13-14), Middle (6-8), High School (9-12)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Writing Assignment
Subject: Environmental Science:Sustainability
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary
On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

Activity 1: Systems Thinking Vocabulary Introduction part of Teaching Activities
Cameron Weiner, Middlebury College
This 30 minute activity introduces systems and systems thinking vocabulary. The activity uses a bathroom sink to introduce simple systems vocabulary. At the end of the activity, students think about the importance ...

Grade Level: High School (9-12), Middle (6-8)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity
Subject: Environmental Science
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Reading an Earthquake Seismogram part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Jennifer Pickering
Introductory lesson that deconstructs the information that can be gleaned from a single seismogram.

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

Exploring California's Plate Motion and Deformation with GPS | Lessons on Plate Tectonics part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
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.

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14), High School (9-12), Middle (6-8)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities, Lab Activity, Classroom Activity
Subject: Geoscience, Geology:Tectonics, Geophysics:Geodesy, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Natural Hazards:Earthquakes
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary
On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

"We Need All the Assistance You Have..." part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
USGS (US Geological Survey)
This exercise provides a basic introduction to volcanic hazards. Students learn about different types of volcanic hazards through researching examples from Alaskan eruptions. They also group the hazards as proximal and distal to consider how emergency response plans might differ. A recording of the KLM flight 867 flight that lost power to all four engines when it flew into an ash cloud from a 1989 Mt Redoubt eruption provides a compelling example of risk from volcanoes. (Note: the plane was ultimately able to regain enough power to land safely in Anchorage.) Students learn about the Volcano Hazards Alert-Notification System for both ground-based and aviation applications.

Grade Level: High School (9-12), Middle (6-8), Intermediate (3-5)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity, Outreach Activity, Lab Activity
Subject: Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Natural Hazards:Volcanism, Geoscience
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Investigating Factors That Affect Tsunami Inundation part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Bonnie Magura (Portland Public Schools), Roger Groom (Mt Tabor Middle School), and CEETEP (Cascadia EarthScope Earthquake and Tsunami Education Program)
Learners modify elements of a tsunami wave tank to investigate the affect that near-coast bathymetry (submarine topography) and coastal landforms have on how far a tsunami can travel inland. Damaging tsunami are most commonly produced by subduction zone earthquakes, such as those that occur in Alaska.

Grade Level: Middle (6-8), College Lower (13-14), High School (9-12)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Outreach Activity, Lab Activity, Classroom Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Oceanography:Marine Hazards, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes, Geoscience, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Natural Hazards:Coastal Hazards:Tsunami
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Be Smart, Be Prepared! Planning an Emergency Backpack part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Bonnie Magura (Portland Public Schools), CEETEP (Cascadia EarthScope Earthquake and Tsunami Education Program), and ANGLE Project
Participants learn what to do before, during, and after a potentially damaging earthquake. They brainstorm valuable components for an emergency supplies backpack and then present on their ideas. The primary resource is the booklet Are you prepared for the next big EARTHQUAKE in Alaska?

Grade Level: Informal, Middle (6-8), Intermediate (3-5), General Public, High School (9-12), College Lower (13-14)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity, Lab Activity, Outreach Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Oceanography:Marine Hazards, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Coastal Hazards:Tsunami, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Natural Hazards:Volcanism, Earthquakes, Mass Wasting
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Pasta Quake: Exploring Earthquake Magnitude part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Paul Doherty (Exploratorium Teacher Institute) and Roger Groom (Mt Tabor Middle School) with improvements by ShakeAlert
This short activity provides an intuitive introduction to earthquake magnitude using an everyday item--spaghetti. Learners are introduced to the earthquake magnitude scale by breaking different amounts of uncooked noodles. Visual scale of the pasta emphasizes the relative differences between magnitudes with each whole step in magnitude. For older students, the demonstration helps students understand why seismologists use the nonlinear logarithmic scale to best graph the huge range of quantities.

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