A think-pair-share activity in which students calculate weathering rates from tombstone weathering data.

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Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum/Geology of National Parks module. Students study measures of central tendency in a bimodal dataset of eruption intervals.

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A detailed two page Word document with activity instructions that can be tailored prior to handout. (Microsoft Word PRIVATE FILE 34kB Jun7 07)

Give students a synthetic data set (Excel PRIVATE FILE 38kB Jun7 07) of 206Pb/238U and 207Pb/235U isotope ratios. The data set will define two age populations (A and B) that can be assigned to either of the following scenarios. The data set is given to the students with the intention that Historical Geology level students will not be required to have advanced knowledge.

PART I: Data plotting
Students are to make concordia plots for use with the provided data sets (Excel PRIVATE FILE 38kB Jun7 07) using the plotting program Excel.

PART II: Data analysis
Data analysis. Experience the discovery of finding two age populations on a concordia plot. Discuss U-Pb concordance. Distinguish different populations using concordia diagram, discuss uncertainty in data.

PART III: Contextual basis
Introduce the two different scenarios (see below) for encountering the age populations A and B. Explore the implications of finding two different age populations within single grains from zircons in an igneous rock (i.e. zircon inheritance).
Explore the ability to discriminate different sedimentary components within a detrital population.
Explore what other aspects of zircon could be used to distinguish different age populations.

Question: What are you really dating when you analyze a zircon?

Two examples of the concept of multiple age populations:

Example 1: Discuss concept that zircons from an igneous rock can record multiple age populations (A and B) that result in grains with different age cores and rims. As a 'hook', illustrate this concept with images of well-known Early Earth examples, demonstrating that this exercise is a real-world problem.

Acasta gneiss zircons (images from S. Bowring)
Investigating the Jack Hills zircons (PowerPoint PRIVATE FILE 17.1MB Apr23 07) (images from A. Cavosie)
Wyoming province zircons (PowerPoint PRIVATE FILE 965kB Jun8 07) (images from D. Henry)

Example 2: Discuss concept of using zircon geochronology for sedimentary provenance. Use, as an example, two age populations (A and B, same data set as in ex. 1) of rounded detrital igneous zircons that end up in the same sedimentary rock. As a 'hook', illustrate this concept with images of well-known Early Earth examples

Field shots of Jack Hills siliciclastic sediments (images from A. Cavosie)
Field shots of Wyoming siliciclastic sediments (See #2 just above.)
Petrographic images (CL, BSE, TL, etc.) of the above.
Demonstrate that both Jack Hills and Wyoming zircons occur in siliciclastic rocks but are very different.

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This is a introductory lab exercise that is intended to convey the concept of the logarithmic scale used for earthquake magnitude. The students will visualize magnitude as a distance over the ground, by using a contrived conversion between magnitude and distance. Using distances helps the students understand how logarithmic scales, like magnitude, work because this is one of the few scales that students are familiar with that spans several orders of magnitude. Students typically use calculators to determine the distance associated with each magnitude. Maps should be provided in the lab/classroom that are on several scales: campus maps, city maps, state maps, and a national map work well. This activity gives the students practice in making unit conversions and in developing arguments by analogy.
Addresses student fear of quantitative aspect and/or inadequate quantitative skills
Addresses student misconceptions

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In this two-part laboratory exercise, students explore the paleontological species concept by studying fossil rodent specimens and classifying them. This lab exercise follows a discussion of the species concept and is the first lab exercise in the course that gives students experience with fossil specimens. Part I: Students begin by studying casts of fossil mammal molars from which they construct clay models. This develops their ability to recognize the cusp pattern. Next, students are given 5 specimens that belong to a single species. First, they write qualitative descriptions of each specimen and then use an optical micrometer fitted to a microscope to collect data about molar length and width. Each group of students has a distinct species of the same rodent family, Ischyromyidae. Part II: The quantitative data is entered into a spreadsheet in Minitab, basic statistics are calculated and students plot molar length vs. width and/or molar area ln (LxW) vs. biostratigraphic level (if you want to include the time factor). (Class data is combined for the statistical analysis and graphing. An alternative approach, for a small class size, is to provide students with additional data points.) Each student pair must explain how they would classify each of the fossil specimens that they studied and the basis for their decision.

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Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module/Geology of
National Parks course. Students use a rating curve to determine discharge at
various stage heights.

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SSAC Physical Volcanology module. Students use Excel to determine a log-log relationship for flow length vs effusion rate and compare it with a theoretical expression for the maximum flow length.

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SSAC Physical Volcanology module. Students build a spreadsheet to estimate the volume of volcanic deposits using map, thickness and high-water mark data from the 2005 Panabaj debris flow (Guatemala).

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SSAC Physical Volcanology module. Students build a spreadsheet to calculate the volume a tephra deposit using an exponential-thinning model.

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A box model is used to simulate the build up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during the industrial era and predict the future increase in atmospheric CO2 levels during the next century.

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In this exercise, students predict changes in the movement of a dissolved plume in response to remedial pumping in an unconfined aquifer. The underlying conceptual model for the distribution of aquifer and aquitard materials is not known with certainty. Consequently, two alternative end-member conceptualizations are presented to students who are then asked to hypothesize differences in predicted responses at the pumping wells and nearby monitoring wells for each conceptual model. Predictions are compared to actual field data, and students discover that contaminant concentration measurements depend not only on the location of the observation point (in three dimensions), but also on the length of the screened interval through which water samples are collected. The activity is divided into three parts: (1) site/problem description, (2) formulation and testing of hypotheses for pumping wells, and (3) formulation and testing of hypotheses for monitoring wells. The activity gives students practice in three dimensional thinking and reinforces their intuitive understanding of contaminant plume migration in response to natural gradients and engineered stresses.

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Given the extensive literature on the composition and evolution of continental crust there are a number of teaching strategies that can be employed to encourage active learning by students. A critical reading of this collection of articles will provide students with a good opportunity to evaluate the chemical isotopic and physical evidence that has led to the development of these models of continental crustal growth. These instructional approaches build on recommendations from Project 2061, Science for all Americans:
1) Start with questions about nature.
2) Engage students actively.
3) Concentrate onthe collection and use of evidence.
4) Provide historical perspectives.
5) Use a team approach.
6) Do not separate knowing from finding out.
A compilation from the primary literature has been provided (see the reference list at the end of this web page: http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/earlyearth/questions/crust.html), along with guiding questions for deeper exploration and discovery. Recommended instructional methods include: jigsaw method, role playing or debates (have each student play the role of Richard Armstrong, Ross Taylor, William Fyfe...), reading the primary literature, or problem-based learning (which is purposefully ambiguous and addresses questions that require independent discovery).

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College-level adaptation of the Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter. Students explore the critical role phytoplankton play in the marine food web.

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Introductory in-class session
I bring a hand-held GPS receiver into class, and present information about how the GPS receiver functions in coordination with the GPS satellites to define a position on Earth. I then talk about high-resolution GPS receivers, and introduce UNAVCO and the EarthScope Plate-Boundary Observatory. We visit the PBO website (http://pboweb.unavco.org) and find time-series data graphed for the motion of a given station (SBCC in Mission Viejo, California) relative to 3 orthogonal axes: north-south, east-west, and up-down. I hand-out paper copies of the data graphs, and we determine the slopes of the data to find the rate of change along each axis. We then use simple trigonometry to determine the length and direction of the 3-D velocity vector for that station. When we finish working on the first station's data together, we jointly write some rules for how to do the analysis. Then we use the rules to do a second analysis in class, working on data from a handout in groups of 2-3 students. The second station is BEMT in Twentynine Palms, California. The rules are refined as necessary and posted on the web. The results for SBCC and BEMT are then compared and discussed.

Homework portion
Students are required to find data for another PBO station and use the rules we developed to determine the velocity vector for that station. A report with the data and results of the analysis is due in the next class session. A sample report may be provided for their reference.

Classroom follow-up session
The results of the various analyses are compared, and questions generated about where various chunks of the lithosphere are going, how fast they are moving, and why they are moving. At the end, students are asked to write a few sentences describing what they would like to do next with the data -- what questions would they like to address through additional research work?

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Students carry out a field experiment in order to test the hypothesis that able bodied individuals receive less help than those perceived to have an injury. Students collect and analyze data and write an APA style research report.

Students are provided with a 3D perspective of a virtual place, descriptions of geologic and cultural aspects, and a table with water-table elevations in groundwater and contaminant levels in water wells, springs, and rivers. Students use these data to contour water-table elevations, determine the direction of groundwater flow, and identify industrial sites that are likely sources of contamination. They then propose a remediation plan and identify water wells that are likely to remain uncontaminated in the future.

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This exercise uses an analytical method (Grubb, 1993) and Excel to calculate the capture zone shape for a TCE remediation well in Wooster, Ohio. The case study description given in an extensive PowerPoint presentation. The capture-zone equations are programmed by the student into an Excel worksheet and used to delineate the contributing area of a contaminant recovery well. Students can then experiment with by varying the pumping rate, hydraulic conductivity, and hydraulic gradient to better understand the sensitivity of these parameters on capture-zone shape.

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This exercise provides students the opportunity to work with real microprobe data to perform a series of common calculations. It also provides a brief glimpse into a high-pressure experiment. (I hope to expand this opportunity in the future via web activities...stay tuned.) The exercise can be used as a laboratory activity or a problem set. It is ideally suited for the use of a spreadsheet like Excel, but can be completed by hand. This is a great opportunity for students who are unfamiliar with spreadsheets to get their feet wet. For me, trial by fire is the best way to learn a new software program.
The exercise could be used in any undergraduate petrology or mineralogy course and assumes only a general background in mineral chemistry. The goals are for students to: 1) work with real data from an experiment, 2) learn/remind themselves of the relationship between chemistry and
crystal structure as displayed in mineral formula, 3) use a geothermometer to see how phase equilibria can be used to decipher physical properties of rocks.
The exercises include:
- Mineral formula recalculation
- Unit cell content calculation
- Calculating end-member percentage
- Plotting data on a ternary plot
- Geothermometer calculation
The exercise could easily be modified to include other "pet" analyses or questions.

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Sea surface temperature is a critical variable that determines biogeographic and distribution patterns of marine organisms. Changes in temperature influence species reproduction and survival and can affect the spread of invasive species spread and marine diseases. As a result SST is a vital indicator of changes in ecosystem health and understand patterns and causes of change are necessary for conservation decisions. . In a previous activity (Working with Scientific Data Sets in Matlab: An Exploration of Ocean Color and Sea Surface Temperature), you downloaded and sub-scened global, annually averaged SST data. In addition to understanding the year-to-year variability in SST patterns, it is important to understand the SST variability over shorter time scales e.g. daily, seasonal). In this activity we will work with a daily imagery to understand intra-annual variability of SST and interpolate values for where data has not been collected.

In this exercise, we use the USGS real-time data available online, and use it to construct a rating curve for the Walla Walla river near Touchet. We then make a simple model of flood inundation in ArcGIS for the area around our gaging station.

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