Topographic comparison, volcanic terrains part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Carol Ormand Ph.D., Carleton College
Students construct a topographic profile through a stratovolcano, then compare it to topo profiles from several other volcanic landscapes.

Olympus Mons and Hawaii part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Carol Ormand Ph.D., Carleton College
Students estimate the volume of Olympus Mons and the volume of lava that has erupted from the Hawaiian hotspot and compare them.

Investigating Plate Tectonics with Google Earth part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Structure, Geophysics, and Tectonics 2012:Activities
Beth Pratt-Sitaula, EarthScope
Students examine data sets of topography, bathymetry, volcano location, earthquake location and size, and ocean floor age in Google Earth to determine the location and attributes of different types of plate ...

Global Topography and Tectonic Plates part of Structural Geology and Tectonics:Structure, Geophysics, and Tectonics 2012:Activities
David Greene, Denison University
The goal of this activity is to investigate global topographic and tectonic features, especially the tectonic plates and their boundaries. Using a double-page size digital topographic map of the Earth that includes ...

Exploring Evidence of Plate Tectonics Using GeoMapApp part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Teaching the Methods of Geoscience:Activities
Sean Cornell, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
This activity requires students to explore a range of datasets that help substantiate Plate Tectonic Theory. Students investigate plate tectonic environments (convergent, divergent, transform boundaries), topography/bathymetry of continents and ocean basins, the distribution and pattern of earthquakes, the distribution of volcanoes, as well as ages of the sea-floor, and more.

Torn Pieces of a Newspaper part of Teaching Activities
Christopher Roemmele, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
A successful unit on plate tectonics begins with engaging learners about the puzzle of the continents. Using "torn pieces of a newspaper" (Wegener's actual words), students recreate the newspaper ...

Visualizing Global Earthquakes – Where and Why do Earthquakes Occur? part of Visualization:Examples
Cara Harwood, University of California-Davis
In this activity students visualize the distribution and magnitude of earthquakes at and below the surface of Earth and how their distribution is related to plate boundaries. Earthquakes are visualized on a 3D ...

Global Earthquakes: Teaching about Earthquakes with Data and 3D Visualizations part of Visualization:Examples
Cara Harwood, University of California-Davis
In this series of visualizations and accompanying activities, students visualize the distribution and magnitude of earthquakes and explore their distribution at plate boundaries. Earthquakes are visualized on a 3D ...

Visualizing Earthquakes at Divergent Plate Margins part of Visualization:Examples
Cara Harwood, University of California-Davis
In this activity students visualize the distribution and magnitude of earthquakes at divergent plate boundaries. Earthquakes are visualized on a 3D globe, making it easy to see their distribution within ...

Characterizing Plate Boundaries part of Online Teaching:Activities for Teaching Online
Bill Hirt, College of the Siskiyous
Students examine maps showing four different types of geologic data along three specific plate boundaries, and document the patterns in the data along each boundary. Next, they compare their observations to the ...