Teaching Activities

Earth education activities from across all of the sites within the Teach the Earth portal.



Current Search Limits:
Designed for In-Person
Geoscience > Geology

Results 1 - 10 of 33 matches

Seismic Slinky: Modeling P and S waves part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology)
Students will produce P and S waves using a Slinky© to understand how seismic waves transfer energy as they travel through solids. All types of waves transmit energy, including beach waves, sound, light, and more. When an earthquake occurs it generates four different types of seismic waves. We will focus on two of these: Compressional-P (longitudinal) and shearing-S (transverse) "body waves." These travel through the Earth with distinct particle motion and predictable speed.

Grade Level: General Public, Informal, High School (9-12), College Lower (13-14), Intermediate (3-5), Middle (6-8)
Online Readiness: Designed for In-Person
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity, Classroom Activity, Outreach Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Seismology, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes, Geoscience
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary
On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

Earthquake Hazard Maps & Liquefaction: Alaska emphasis part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
TOTLE (Teachers on the Leading Edge), CEETEP (Cascadia EarthScope Earthquake and Tsunami Education Program), EarthScope ANGLE, and ShakeAlert projects
Ground shaking is the primary cause of earthquake damage to man-made structures. This exercise combines three related activities on the topic of shaking-induced ground instability: a ground shaking amplification demonstration, a seismic landslides demonstration, and a liquefaction experiment. The amplitude of ground shaking is affected by the type of near-surface rocks and soil. Earthquake ground shaking can cause even gently sloping areas to slide when those same areas would be stable under normal conditions. Liquefaction is a phenomenon where water-saturated sand and silt take on the characteristics of a dense liquid during the intense ground shaking of an earthquake and deform. Includes Alaska and San Francisco examples.

Grade Level: Informal, Middle (6-8), Intermediate (3-5), General Public, High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Designed for In-Person
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity, Outreach Activity, Classroom Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Seismology, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Mass Wasting, Earthquakes, Geoscience, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Engineering
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary
On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

Fault Models for Teaching About Plate Tectonics part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Modified from an activity by Larry Braile (Purdue University) by TOTLE (Teachers on the Leading Edge) Project and further improved by ShakeAlert.
This short interactive activity has learners to manipulate fault blocks to better understand different types of earthquake-generating faults in different tectonic settings--extensional, convergent, and strike-slip. Fault models aid in visualizing and understanding faulting and plate motions because the instructor and their students can manipulate a three-dimensional model for a true hands-on experience.

Grade Level: General Public, Informal, Intermediate (3-5), High School (9-12), Middle (6-8)
Online Readiness: Designed for In-Person
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Outreach Activity, Classroom Activity, Lab Activity
Subject: Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes, Geoscience, Geology:Tectonics
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary
On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

Earthquake Machine part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) and ShakeAlert
In this activity, learners work collaboratively in small groups to explore the earthquake cycle by using a physical model. Attention is captured through several short video clips illustrating the awe-inspiring power of ground shaking resulting from earthquakes. To make students' prior knowledge explicit and activate their thinking about the topic of earthquakes, each student writes their definition of an earthquake on a sticky note. Next, through a collaborative process, small groups of students combine their individual definitions to create a consensus definition for an earthquake.

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14), High School (9-12), Intermediate (3-5), Middle (6-8)
Online Readiness: Designed for In-Person
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Outreach Activity, Classroom Activity, Lab Activity
Subject: Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes, Geoscience, Geology:Tectonics
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary
On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

Human Wave: Modeling P and S Waves part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) and ShakeAlert
Lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, learners are the medium that P and S waves travel through in this simple, but effective demonstration. Once "performed", the principles of P and S waves will not be easily forgotten. This demonstration explores two of the four main ways energy propagates from the hypocenter of an earthquake as P and S seismic waves. The physical nature of the Human Wave demonstration makes it a highly engaging kinesthetic learning activity that helps students grasp, internalize and retain abstract information.

Grade Level: Informal, College Lower (13-14), General Public, High School (9-12), Intermediate (3-5), Middle (6-8)
Online Readiness: Designed for In-Person
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity, Lab Activity, Outreach Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Seismology, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes, Geoscience
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary
On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.

Unit 2: Kinematic GPS/GNSS Methods part of High Precision Positioning with Static and Kinematic GPS
Ben Crosby, Idaho State University
The application of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) in the earth sciences has become commonplace. GNSS data can be collected rapidly and compared in common reference frames. Real-time kinematic (RTK) GNSS ...

Grade Level: College Upper (15-16)
Online Readiness: Designed for In-Person
Resource Type: Activities: Course Module, Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:GIS/Mapping/Field Techniques, Geography:Geospatial, Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Geodesy
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary
On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.
GETSI Developed This material was developed and reviewed through the GETSI curricular materials development process.
Learn more about this review process.

Unit 5: Summative assessment project part of Analyzing High Resolution Topography with TLS and SfM
Bruce Douglas (Indiana University) Chris Crosby (EarthScope Consortium) Kate Shervais (UNAVCO)
Unit 5 is the summative assessment for the module. This final exercise takes eight to ten hours. The exercise evaluates students' developed skills in survey design, execution of a geodetic survey, and simple ...

Grade Level: College Upper (15-16)
Online Readiness: Designed for In-Person
Resource Type: Activities: Activities, Course Module
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Sedimentary Geology:Stratigraphy, Depositional environments:Continental, Geoscience:Geology:Sedimentary Geology:Facies and Facies Models, Sedimentary Structures, Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Geophysics in other disciplines, Geography:Geospatial, Geoscience:Geology:Historical Geology, Geophysics:Geodesy, Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:GIS/Mapping/Field Techniques, Landforms/Processes, Geoscience:Paleontology:Preservation and Taphonomy, Field Techniques , Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Geoscience:Geology:Environmental Geology, Tectonics, Geomorphology:Landscape Evolution, Tectonic Geomorphology, Geomorphology as applied to other disciplines, Geography:Physical, Geoscience:Geology:Structural Geology:Folds/Faults/Ductile Shear Zones
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary
On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.
GETSI Developed This material was developed and reviewed through the GETSI curricular materials development process.
Learn more about this review process.

Unit 3: Geodetic survey of a fault scarp part of Analyzing High Resolution Topography with TLS and SfM
Bruce Douglas (Indiana University) Nicholas Pinter (University of California Davis) Nathan Niemi (University of Michigan) J. Ramon Arrowsmith (Arizona State University) Kate Shervais (UNAVCO) Chris Crosby (EarthScope)
In this unit, students will design a survey (TLS and/or SfM) of a fault scarp. After conducting the survey in the field, students will analyze the data to identify the number and magnitude of possible fault ...

Grade Level: College Upper (15-16)
Online Readiness: Online Ready, Designed for In-Person
Resource Type: Activities: Course Module, Activities:Virtual Field Trip, Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Structural Geology:Folds/Faults/Ductile Shear Zones, Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landscape Evolution, Tectonic Geomorphology, Geoscience:Geology:Tectonics, Geomorphology:Geomorphology as applied to other disciplines, Geoscience:Geology:Structural Geology:Geophysics and Structural Geology, Geography:Geospatial, Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landforms/Processes:Hillslopes, Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Geodesy, Geography:Physical
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary
On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.
GETSI Developed This material was developed and reviewed through the GETSI curricular materials development process.
Learn more about this review process.

Unit 4: Geomorphic change detection part of Analyzing High Resolution Topography with TLS and SfM
Kate Shervais (UNAVCO) J. Ramon Arrowsmith (Arizona State University) Nathan Niemi (University of Michigan) Marin Clark (University of Michigan) Chris Crosby (UNAVCO)
Applications of geodetic imaging in geomorphology research often center on monitoring and detecting change within a system over time. Since most geomorphic systems evolve over longer time periods—months, years, ...

Grade Level: College Upper (15-16)
Online Readiness: Online Ready, Designed for In-Person
Resource Type: Activities: Course Module, Activities:Virtual Field Trip, Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landscape Evolution, Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Geophysics in other disciplines, Geography:Physical, Geospatial, Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Geodesy
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary
On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.
GETSI Developed This material was developed and reviewed through the GETSI curricular materials development process.
Learn more about this review process.

Unit 1-SfM: Introduction to SfM part of Analyzing High Resolution Topography with TLS and SfM
Kate Shervais (UNAVCO) Bruce Douglas (Indiana University) Chris Crosby (EarthScope)
This unit introduces students to Structure from Motion (SfM). SfM is a photogrammetric technique that uses overlapping images to construct a 3D model of the scene and has widespread research applications in ...

Grade Level: College Upper (15-16)
Online Readiness: Online Ready, Designed for In-Person
Resource Type: Activities: Course Module, Activities, Virtual Field Trip
Subject: Geography:Physical, Geospatial, Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Geodesy, Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology, Physics:Other Sciences:Geoscience
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary
On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
Learn more about this review process.
GETSI Developed This material was developed and reviewed through the GETSI curricular materials development process.
Learn more about this review process.