Pinpointing Location with GPS Demonstration: How GPS Works (Part 2) part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
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.

Arctic Climate Curriculum, Activity 1: Exploring the Arctic part of Climate Change:Activities
Karin Kirk, Freelance Science Writer and Geoscientist; Anne Gold, University of Colorado at Boulder
This activity introduces students to the Arctic, including different definitions of the Arctic and exploration of the Arctic environment and Arctic people. Students set out on a virtual exploration of the geography ...

Arctic Climate Curriculum, Activity 3: Exploring Arctic Climate Data part of Climate Change:Activities
Karin Kirk, Freelance Science Writer and Geoscientist; Anne Gold, University of Colorado at Boulder
Students dig into authentic Arctic climate data to unravel some causes and effects related to the seasonal melting of the snowpack. In particular, students learn about albedo and its relationship to snowmelt. This ...

Science with Flubber: Glacial Isostasy part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
Using two sets of flubber, one representing the Earth and one representing a glacier, demonstrate how the crust sinks and rebounds to the weight of a glacier, and how this motion can be measured using GPS.Flubber is a rubbery elastic substance, a non-Newtonian elasco-plastic fluid, that flows under gravity, but breaks when under high stress. Flubber is useful for demonstrating a wide range of Earth and glacier processes.

Earthquake Early Warning Demonstration part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
This hands-on demonstration illustrates how GPS instruments can be used in earthquake early warning systems to alert people of impending shaking. The same principles can be applied to other types of early warning systems (such as tsunami) or to early warning systems using a different type of geophysical sensor (such as a seismometer instead of a GPS).This demo is essentially a game that works best with a large audience (ideally over 30 people) in an auditorium. A few people are selected to be either surgeons, GPS stations, or a warning siren, with everyone else forming an earthquake "wave."

Introduction to Graphing GPS data | Lessons on Plate Tectonics part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
This activity emphasizes making graphs—in order to make interpreting graphs easier. Students graph data measuring how GPS stations move north or south and east or west. They begin by graphing fictitious data and progress to graphing data from several stations in the western United States. Eventually they graph north-south vs. east-west motion of a station in order to see that another purpose of plotting data is to make maps. They also develop intuition about vectors.

Tsunami Early Warning Demonstration part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley E Olds, EarthScope Consortium
This hands-on demonstration illustrates how instruments can be used to warn people of a tsunami. The same principles can be applied to earthquake early warning. With an older audience, this is a demonstration that can be used to start a conversation. With a younger audience, this activity is a game.

Exploring the Grand Canyon: Mystery of Blacktail Canyon part of Cutting Edge:Enhance Your Teaching:Teaching with Online Field Experiences:Activities
Wendy Taylor, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
Nearly two billion years of the Earth's geological history has been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layers of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. ...

Melting ice cubes part of Oceanography:Activities
Mirjam Glessmer, University of Bergen
Explore how melting of ice cubes floating in water is influenced by the salinity of the water. Important oceanographic concepts like density and density driven currents are visualized and can be discussed on the ...

A River Runs Through It: an exploration in land use and water resource management part of Environmental Geology:Activities
Robin Humphreys, College of Charleston
This is an in-class activity where students learn about the interconnectedness of land use, water quality, and water resource management. Students are assigned a river front parcel of land to develop, unaware that ...