Old Sticks in the Mud: Hazards of Lahars from Mount Rainier Volcano part of Curriculum for the Bioregion:Activities
Patrick Pringle, Centralia College
Volcanic debris flows (lahars) flow long distances, bury and aggrade river valleys, and cause long-term stream disturbances and dramatic landscape changes. Students will evaluate the nature, scale, and history of ...

Fluvial and Alluvial Sedimentology Incorporating Google Earth part of Sedimentary Geology:Activities
Elizabeth Cassel, University of Idaho
A lab activity for an undergraduate sedimentary geology course focused on fluvial and alluvial sedimentology, incorporating Google Earth.

The Quaternary Glacio-Fluvial History of the Upper Midwest Using Anaglyph Stereo Maps part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
Kate Pound, North Hennepin Community College
Students examine the anaglyph stereo map (with red/cyan glasses) and use textures to generate a surficial geology map of the Upper Midwest. They can then interpret the textures in terms of landforms, geomorphic ...

Teaching geologic time and rates of landscape evolution with dice part of Rates and Time:GSA Activity Posters
Kate Ruhl, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Landscape evolution provides a convenient framework for understanding geologic time and rates because students can observe how processes like erosion and deposition shape their surroundings. In this example, students build 3-D sandbox models based on topographic maps and design and stage a "virtual adventure race." Sandbox landscapes are used to illustrate erosional processes,while local examples are used to discuss landscapes as transient or steady over different time- and length scales. Dice experiments illustrate radioactive decay and the shape of the age equation curve, and 14C dating, geochronology and thermochronology are introduced as "stopwatches" that start when a plant dies, a crystal forms, or a rock nears the surface and cools to a certain temperature. The sandbox model and thermochronometer "stopwatches" are combined to measure erosion rates and rates of landscape change. Ultimately, model rates (cm/hour) calculated from stopwatch times on the order of seconds can be related to geologic rates (km/My) calculated from real million-year-old samples.

Red Beans and Rice: Slope failure experimental modeling part of Geomorphology:Activities
Tom Hickson, University of St. Thomas (MN)
Students replicate a slope failure experiment published in Science (Densmore et al., 1997) using a simple, acrylic slope failure box in an effort to forge a link between autocyclic processes, long-term landscape ...

Hometown Geology part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Stacey Cochiara, New Jersey City University
This is an extra credit assignment for students to learn details about the geology of their hometown.

Humans as Geomorphic Agents part of Geomorphology:Activities
Catherine Riihimaki, 2NDNATURE Software
An introduction to order-of-magnitude calculations and reading quantitative journal articles.

Rocks, Weathering, and Erosional Landscapes part of Geomorphology:Activities
Lindley Hanson, Salem State University
Students will identify a variety of silicate minerals and rocks and relate them to their topographic expression according to relative resistance.

Geomorphology Field Research Project part of Geomorphology:Activities
Jeff Marshall, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
This research project allows students to integrate and apply their geomorphic knowledge in a comprehensive study of a local landscape. Working in teams, they investigate uplifted alluvial deposits along the ...

Drainage Basins Field Lab part of Geomorphology:Activities
Jeff Marshall, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
This field activity and follow-up assignment explores the geomorphology of drainage basins in an active tectonic setting. It introduces basic concepts of drainage basin structure and landscape analysis using ...