Counting Critters: Using the Paleobiology Database to track fossil diversity through geologic time part of Introductory Courses:Activities
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, ...

The Panama Passageway: Using the PBDB to constrain the timing and extent of the The Great American Biotic Interchange part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Callan Bentley, Piedmont Virginia Community College
Students learn how to use the online Paleobiology Database to map changes in the distribution of fossil vertebrates in the Americas through time. They will generate distribution maps for several key fossil groups ...

The Pangea Puzzle part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Mark Uhen, George Mason University
Students learn how to use the Paleobiology Database (PBDB) to produce maps of fossils on the present-day Earth's surface, as well as past continental configurations. They will then use these maps to understand ...

Geometric and Kinematic Analysis in a Sandbox part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Activities
Kim Hannula, Fort Lewis College
Introduction to the concepts of geometric and kinematic analysis, using an easily assembled sandbox. Students repeat experiments to see variation. The lab also reviews structural map symbols, and involves some ...

"ZirChron" Virtual Zircon Analysis App part of Petrology:Teaching Examples
Mark Schmitz, Boise State University
This web-based app is designed to help students evaluate a radioisotopic age and its uncertainty based upon the collection of data, the application of statistics, and the interpretation of geological and analytical ...

Intro to Graphing part of Undergraduate Research:2014 Workshop:Activities
Debra Woodall, Daytona College
Intro to Graphing is a 2-phase exercise that introduces students to Excel for the purposes of properly storing their data and producing graphs.

Introduction to well logs for use in the petroleum industry part of Sedimentary Geology:Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
Walter Borowski, Eastern Kentucky University
This exercise uses a suite of well logs (aka electric logs) to interpret lithology within a stratigraphic section and to determine fluid content within borehole rocks.

Building a Facies Model part of Sedimentary Geology:Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology 2014:Activities
William W. Little, Brigham Young University-Idaho
Facies models are often abstract and difficult for undergraduate students to fully understand. As a result, they tend to memorize idealized diagrams from text books that can be reproduced for an exam, then ...

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 ...

Introduction to the Trilobites: Morphology, Macroevolution and More part of Paleontology:Activities
Michelle Casey, University of Kansas Main Campus
The learning goals for this lab are the following: 1) to familiarize students with the anatomy and terminology relating to trilobites; 2) to give students experience identifying morphologic structures on real ...