Unit 1: Earthquake! part of GPS, Strain, and Earthquakes
Vince Cronin, Baylor University (Vince_Cronin@baylor.edu) Phil Resor, Wesleyan University (presor@wesleyan.edu)
In this opening unit, students develop the societal context for understanding earthquake hazards using as a case study the 2011 Tohoku, Japan, earthquake. It starts with a short homework "scavenger hunt" ...

Unit 2.2: Mitigation Using Low Impact Development (LID) Controls part of An Ecosystem Services Approach to Water Resources
John Ritter, Wittenberg University; Ed Barbanell, University of Utah; Meghann Jarchow, University of South Dakota
In this activity, students model the impact of changes in land cover on stormwater runoff using the EPA's National Stormwater Calculator. Students mitigate increased stormwater runoff resulting from ...

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 ...

Where Does Stream Water Come From? part of Project EDDIE:Teaching Materials:Modules
Christa Torrens, University of Colorado at Boulder
In this module, students explore various sources of stream water through reading, discussion, and data analysis in R. The module focuses on streams from four distinct LTER sites: an Antarctic desert stream, an Arizona desert stream, an Arctic tundra stream, and a temperate forest stream in New England.

Urban Planning 101: Map Appreciation part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
Jill Baumtrog
This is a synthesis activity, providing closure to river and/or map units. Students will begin by looking at a series of maps, including 3D maps. They will brainstorm ways the natural world may interact with humans ...

The Heat is On: Understanding Local Climate Change part of Visualization:Examples
Dan Zalles, SRI International
Students draw conclusions about the extent to which multiple decades of temperature data about Phoenix suggest that a shift in local climate is taking place as opposed to exhibiting nothing more than natural ...

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.

Back-of-the-Envelope Calculations: Scale of the Himalayas part of Quantitative Skills:Activity Collection
Barb Tewksbury, Hamilton College
Question Let's imagine a scale model of the Earth, and let's imagine that the Earth is the size of a basketball. Suppose that you wanted to build the Himalayas to scale on the surface of the basketball. ...

Wind River Eco-Challenge: A Virtual Excursion Exercise for Introducing Topographic Maps part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Suki Smaglik, Laramie County Community College
This classroom activity simulates an eco-challenge course in the Wind River Mountains, which are close to our campus. Our goal is that students approach their recreational adventures more prepared than they would ...

Campus Map Scale part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Carrie Davis Todd, University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown
Students are given a map of the campus and asked to devise a method to determine the map scale. The method for determining scale is not prescribed, requiring the students to work in small groups to brainstorm a ...