Teaching Activities

Contour Basics: JAVA Mac/PC part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Teaching with Visualizations:Visualization Examples
Steve Ackerman and Tom Whittaker, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Space Science and Engineering Center. Starting Point page organized by R.M. MacKay.
A great on-line resource for introducing students to contour plots.

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14):College Introductory
Resource Type: Activities: Audio/Visual:Maps, Activities:Classroom Activity, Lab Activity
Subject: Geography:Physical, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science, Oceanography, Geology
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Image Classification part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Teaching with GIS:Examples
Brian Welch, Saint Olaf College
An exercise to use a simple image analysis program to classify land surface types seen in satellite imagery in order to analyze changes in landscape development over time. -

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14):College Introductory
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Hydrology, Geography:Human/Cultural, Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Geography:Geospatial, Physical, Environmental Science:Land Use and Planning, Biology:Ecology
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Annotating Change in Satellite Images part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Teaching with Data:Examples
Rebecca Teed, Wright State University-Main Campus
During this exercise, students compare a series of satellite images taken 3-4 years apart to investigate the effects of human land use and annotate the images using ImageJ software. -

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14):College Introductory
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity, Audio/Visual:Images/Illustrations, Datasets and Tools:Datasets with Teaching Activities
Subject: Geography:Physical, Environmental Science:Land Use and Planning, Geography:Geospatial
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Mapping Plate Boundaries part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Interactive Lectures:Examples
Rurik Johnson (Plymouth Middle School)
Students can discover plate boundaries by plotting different sets of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on maps. These are then stacked on the overhead projector, outlining the tectonic plates. -

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14):College Introductory
Resource Type: Activities: Datasets and Tools:Datasets with Teaching Activities, Activities:Classroom Activity
Subject: Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Volcanism, Earthquakes, Geography:Physical, Geospatial, Geoscience:Geology:Tectonics, Environmental Science:Ecosystems:Biogeochemical cycling

Gallery Walk Questions on Map Reading part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Gallery Walks:Examples
created by Mark Francek, Central Michigan University The following are potential questions that could be used in a gallery walk activity about map reading. The questions are organized according to the cognitive ...

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14):College Introductory
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity, Classroom Activity:Gallery Walk
Subject: Geoscience:Geology, Geography:Physical

Where is North? part of Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience:Teaching with Data:Examples
This activity is taken from Earth Science With Vernier by Robyn Johnson, Gretchen Stahmer DeMoss, and Richard Sorensen, Published by , Vernier Software (more info) . This Starting Point page was created by Robert MacKay, of Clark College .
Students use a microcomputer connected to a magnetic field sensor to measure the magnitude and direction of their local Earth's magnetic field . -

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14):College Introductory
Resource Type: Activities: Datasets and Tools:Datasets with Teaching Activities, Activities:Lab Activity, Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics, Geography:Physical