Exemplary Teaching Activities

Beginning in 2011, On the Cutting Edge began a process to review the extensive collection of activities submitted by workshop participants and members of the geoscience community. With the transition of the On the Cutting Edge program into NAGT the review process is now being used to broadly review online teaching activities relevant to NAGT's community of Earth educators. Through this review processes activities are scored on 5 elements: scientific veracity; alignment of goals, activity, and assessment; pedagogical effectiveness; robustness; and completeness of the description. The activities that score very highly in these areas become part of the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection and are featured below.

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Discovering the oil/plastics cycle part of GeoEthics:Activities
Lauren Sahl, Maine Maritime Academy
Lauren Sahl, Corning School of Ocean Studies, Maine Maritime Academy Summary Students examine a video clip showing dead albatross chicks with their guts full of plastics. They are asked to write down a list of all ...

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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Seasonal variation in light, mixing depth and primary productivity in temperate northern hemisphere waters part of Oceanography:Activities
Lauren Sahl, Maine Maritime Academy
In this exercise students work with light, temperature, and phytoplankton biomass proxy (chlorophyll a concentration) data to; Become more skilled in reading and interpreting semi log graphs, temperature profiles, ...

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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Iceberg of Antarctica part of IODP School of Rock 2020:Teaching Activities
Turtle Haste, Desert Ridge Middle School; Diane Nihart, Albuquerque Public Schools
After exploring the various hands-on, art, kinesthetic activities, and electronic resources after reading the book: Iceberg of Antarctica by Marlo Garnsworthy, students will develop, create, and produce their own ...

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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Module 6 Capstone – Reversing the Process part of Oceans in the News:Oceans in the News – Polar Ocean Science, Data, and the Media
Jonathan Cohen, University of Delaware; Victoria E Simons, University of Delaware; Matthew Oliver, University of Delaware
This final module is a capstone project where students have to use what they have learned up until now to create their own news article based on a data set they find. The idea behind this project is that students ...

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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Melting ice cubes part of Oceanography:Activities
Mirjam Glessmer, University of Bergen
Explore how melting of ice cubes floating in water is influenced by the salinity of the water. Important oceanographic concepts like density and density driven currents are visualized and can be discussed on the ...

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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Using Google Earth to measure seacliff erosion rates part of Oceanography:Activities
Alfred Hochstaedter, Monterey Peninsula College
This lab uses Google Earth to measure the rate of seacliff retreat. It touches upon coastal processes, natural hazards, and coastal management issues. The central focus of the lab is in the Monterey Bay area.

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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Learning About Marine Sediments Using Real Data part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Kristen St. John, James Madison University
This exercise set explores marine sediments using real core photos and composition data from the scientific ocean drilling programs DSDP, ODP, and IODP in an inquiry-based approach.

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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Sound and light in the ocean part of Oceanography:Activities
Lauren Sahl, Maine Maritime Academy
Light is our usual method for observing on land, but water quickly absorbs light making it less useful in the ocean. On the other hand, sound in water can travel long distances before it is absorbed to the point ...

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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Getting a Grip on Hydrogen Bonds part of Oceanography:Activities
Elizabeth Nagy, Pasadena City College
The purpose of this brief (~15 minutes) activity is for students to directly observe some of the unique properties of water that are the result of hydrogen bonds, such as capillary action, adhesion, cohesion, and ...

On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Collection This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection.
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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.

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.