This worksheet has students identify and annotate stratigraphic and structural features on top of four outcrop photos. It's designed to give students critically important practice, training their eyes to see geologically important features and understand what these features look like in real life. Stratigraphic and structural features are described for each of the four photos. Using the descriptions, students sketch and label each feature on top of the photo. For one photo, students also draw arrows to indicate the direction of fault movement given the geometry of bedding in the photo. Students also complete six multiple-choice questions pertaining to the concepts of the worksheet.

This worksheet uses the sketch-understanding program with built-in tutor: CogSketch . Therefore, students, instructors, and/or institution computer labs need to download the program from here: http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/software/cogsketch/. At any point during the worksheet, students can click the FEEDBACK button and their sketch is compared to the solution image. The built-in tutor identifies any discrepancies and reports pre-written feedback to help the student correct their sketch until they are done with the activity. Once worksheets are emailed to the instructor, worksheets can be batch graded and easily evaluated. This program allows instructors to assign sketching activities that require very little time commitment. Instead, the built-in tutor provides feedback whenever the student requests, without the presence of the instructor. More information on using the program and the activity is in the Instructor's Notes.

We have developed approximately two dozen introductory geoscience worksheets using this program. Each worksheet has a background image and instructions for a sketching task. You can find additional worksheets by searching for "CogSketch" using the search box at the top of this page. We expect to have uploaded all of them by the end of the summer of 2016.

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In this exercise, students use whole-rock major- and trace-element compositions of igneous rocks from a variety of tectonic settings and locations to explore the importance of plate setting in determining magma compositions. Students are split into groups and assigned different tectonic settings to examine and compare with other groups. Datasets are obtained from the GEOROC database, imported into Excel spreadsheets, and graphed to learn how igneous rock compositions are a function of plate tectonic setting.

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In this exercise, students are split into groups to gather whole-rock geochemical data (major-, trace-, and rare-earth elements) from the GEOROC database for igneous rocks sampled from four different plate tectonic settings: mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones, oceanic islands, and oceanic plateaus. Each group is assigned a different plate tectonic setting and collects three datasets from different locations for their tectonic setting. Geochemical data is graphed as major-element variation and REE diagrams to quantify igneous diversity both within the same tectonic setting and between different tectonic settings. The main goal of this exercise is to demonstrate that igneous rock compositions are a strong function of plate tectonic setting.

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This lesson shows how to use Python and skimage to do basic image processing. With support from an NSF iUSE grant, Dr. Tessa Durham Brooks and Dr. Mark Meysenburg at Doane College, Nebraska, USA have developed a curriculum for teaching image processing in Python. This lesson is currently being piloted at different institutions. This pilot phase will be followed by a clean-up phase to incorporate suggestions and feedback from the pilots into the lessons and to make the lessons teachable by the broader community. Development for these lessons has been supported by a grant from the Sloan Foundation.

Students will gather information regarding the cultural and economic interactions between Europeans and American Indians during Westward Expansion. Students will work in groups to analyze several primary sources and create a visual representation depicting the Native vs. European perspectives of westward expansion. 

Quick review worksheet that has students draw a sequence of illustrations of what would occur to a syntectonic quart vein, a pebble conglomerate, a rigid object, and a garnet porphyroblast for pure vs. simple shear. I've used this both as a quiz & as an in-class review.

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Short in-class review question about using given strike and dip information to classify a fold. Stereonets used.

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A toddler wading pool or similar tank is filled with common sand (available from home improvement stores in bags) to a depth of 15-20 cm. The sand is saturated with a slow inflow and outflow to a floor drain. A 2-inch PVC slotted screen section is buried in the sand near the center of the tank with a capped end at the bottom. Small (1 cm diameter or similar) slotted or perforated PVC or copper tubing are placed as piezometers in the sand at short distances (e.g., 10-20 cm) from the pumping "well." A fountain pump capable of discharging up to 100-150 ml/min is placed within the "well" with adequate discharge tubing to conduct the water to a drain. A stopcock is placed in the tubing to control flow. Alternatively, if the tank of sand is on a very sturdy table, a simple siphon with tubing can be used as a pump. Drawdown is determined by the difference between a pre-pumping level measurement from the top of the "piezometers" and subsequent measurements made in the same "piezometer" at times after pumping starts. Water levels may be measured using chalked wooden rods. Alternatively, a small cork with a slender wooded food skewer marked in millimeter increments can be placed in each piezometers and the students can watch the change in level of the markings relative to the top of the "piezometer." Flow is repeatedly measured using a graduated cylinder. At the start of the test, students or teams of students are assigned to either take water level measurements at a specific piezometer or to measure and control the flow rate. The data are collected on a logarithmically increasing time interval for about an hour. The flow and drawdown data are analyzed by various means (Theis curve, Jacob straight-line method, Bolton curves, etc.) either manually or using AQTESOLV or similar software. Though the drawdowns are small, the data have provided quite reasonable estimates of hydraulic conductivity for the sand.

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This module includes 10 topics related to finding, evaluating, and presenting scientific information related to climate change or other interdisciplinary topics.

The ultimate goal is for students to prepare a paper and present it to their colleagues as though they were giving it at typical professional meeting such as American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, or American Quaternary Association. However, the technical level of the talk should be at a level that the class will understand and enjoy.

The topic should demonstrate scientific method rather than being merely descriptive or primarily applied science/technology. Students should use current literature. The presentation will be more interesting if the subject is somewhat controversial. The final product should demonstrate that the student understands and has gained the skills presented in all 10 topics.

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On a hike with her children, Mrs. Thompson noticed the reflection of the top of a pine tree in a puddle in the path. Her son, who is almost a foot taller than she is, could not see the top of the tree in the puddle until he moved. Why did her son need to move to see the top of the tree? How can they use similar right triangles and indirect measurements to find the height of the tree?

Information visualization is concerned with the visual and interactive representation of abstract and possibly complex datasets. As we encounter growing datasets in various sectors there is an increasing need to develop effective methods for making sense of data. Information visualization relies on computational means and our perceptual system to help reveal otherwise invisible patterns and gain new insights. Across various fields, there is great hope in the power of visualization to turn complex data into informative, engaging, and maybe even attractive forms. However, it typically takes several steps of data preparation and processing before a given dataset can be meaningfully visualized. While visualizations can indeed provide novel and useful perspectives on data, they can also obscure or misrepresent certain aspects of a phenomenon. Thus it is essential to develop a critical literacy towards the rhetoric of information visualization. One of the best ways to develop this literacy is to learn how to create visualizations! The tutorials offer a practical approach to working with data and to create interactive visualizations.

The tutorials require basic familiarity with statistics and programming. They come as Jupyter notebooks containing both human-readable explanations as well as computable code. The code blocks in the tutorials are written in Python, which you should either have already some experience with or a keen curiosity for. The tutorials make frequent use of the data analysis library Pandas, the visualization library Altair, and a range of other packages. You can view the tutorials as webpages, open and run them on Google Colab, or download the Jupyter notebook files to edit and run them locally.

Student teams design, build and test small-sized gliders to maximize flight distance and an aerodynamic ratio, applying their knowledge of fluid dynamics to its role in flight. Students experience the entire engineering design process, from brainstorming to CAD (or by hand) drafting, including researching (physics of aerodynamics and glider components that take advantage of that science), creating materials lists, constructing, testing and evaluating—all within constraints (works with a launcher, budget limitation, maximizing flight distance to mass ratio), and concluding with a summary final report. Numerous handouts and rubrics are provided.

This resource will primarily be used prior to going to outdoor school for a 5th grade class. Though some of the resources might seem like a stretch for that age range it allows for some differentiation for those students that are looking to expand their knowledge base. In addition, this journal covers some basic rules and guidelines for living within a group of people which is why we include some dining etiquette.

Using web-accessed climate data, students will examine the latitudinal distribution of CO2 and explain how (and why) that has changed over (recent) time. They will then work in groups of two or three to download, graph, and interpret carbon dioxide concentration data from one individual location (different groups will be assigned a different site). Each student will complete a series of questions to ensure their understanding of the concepts outlined above.

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The approach to teaching geologic map interpretation described in the materials departs significantly from the typical approach, which commonly involves defining strike and dip and types of contacts, drawing cross sections in areas with no topography and working with paper block models and PlayDoh for visualiztion, teaching outcrop patterns and rule of Vs in areas with topography, and then having students practice map interpretation and cross section construction.

The approach describe in materials listed here uses the powerful 3D viewing capability and the remarkable satellite images of Google Earth to help students really visualize structures. The approach does the following:

* Emphasizes mapping before map interpretation in order to help students visualize, rather than memorize.
* Starts by having students do geologic mapping in Google Earth before they know anything about strike, dip, or types of contacts.
* Has students work first with inclined units and contacts in areas with topographic relief, using Google Earth 3D view to develop an understanding of dip.
* Has students sketch simple cross sections of their own geologic maps and use Google Earth 3D view to help them visualize the relationships.
* Derives strike after students understand dip.
* Has students work with vertical contacts next, then horizontal contacts, and, finally, folded and faulted contacts.
* Gives students lots of practice in mapping in Google Earth and creating their own cross sections in areas of increasing complexity.
* Follows with interpretation of existing geologic maps coupled with use of maps in the field.

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Data Carpentry lesson to learn how to work with Amazon AWS cloud computing and how to transfer data between your local computer and cloud resources. The cloud is a fancy name for the huge network of computers that host your favorite websites, stream movies, and shop online, but you can also harness all of that computing power for running analyses that would take days, weeks or even years on your local computer. In this lesson, you’ll learn about renting cloud services that fit your analytic needs, and how to interact with one of those services (AWS) via the command line.

To illustrate the basics of digital mapping on a PocketPC, I have included one of the projects used in our field course. It covers an area southeast of Buena Vista, Colorado that consists of Precambrian plutonic and metamorphic rocks, Tertiary volcanic rocks, and Quaternary sediments. The project comes in the second week of the course and is the first digital mapping experience for the students. Prior to this, they have been learning to map using traditional methods.
The Sugarloaf project consists of base maps and data layers. The inclusion of both aerial photo (USGS DOQQ) and topographic base maps (USGS DRG), allows students to choose which ever map works best for them. The data layers include everything that a field geologist would normally record in his/her field notebook and map: general notes, contacts, and structural data (including oriented symbols on the map). The specific layers in this project are: bedding, contacts, faults, foliations, formations, geology, joints, lineations, and stations. In some layers (e.g., bedding, foliation, lineation, and joint), taping a point on the map opens a dialog box into which you enter data such as strike/dip or plunge/trend. In other layers (e.g., stations), taping a point opens a form for notes. In the contact layer, you draw lines. Editing can be done in the field on your PocketPC or back in camp by downloading the project to a computer. If a project is edited on a computer, the edited version must then be uploaded to the PocketPC for use the next day in the field. Final production of the map is done using ArcView or ArcMap.

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Data Carpentry lesson to understand data structures and common storage and transfer formats for spatial data. The goal of this lesson is to provide an introduction to core geospatial data concepts. It is intended for learners who have no prior experience working with geospatial data, and as a pre-requisite for the R for Raster and Vector Data lesson . This lesson can be taught in approximately 75 minutes and covers the following topics: Introduction to raster and vector data format and attributes Examples of data types commonly stored in raster vs vector format Introduction to categorical vs continuous raster data and multi-layer rasters Introduction to the file types and R packages used in the remainder of this workshop Introduction to coordinate reference systems and the PROJ4 format Overview of commonly used programs and applications for working with geospatial data The Introduction to R for Geospatial Data lesson provides an introduction to the R programming language while the R for Raster and Vector Data lesson provides a more in-depth introduction to visualization (focusing on geospatial data), and working with data structures unique to geospatial data. The R for Raster and Vector Data lesson assumes that learners are already familiar with both geospatial data concepts and the core concepts of the R language.

Data Carpentry lesson to open, work with, and plot vector and raster-format spatial data in R. The episodes in this lesson cover how to open, work with, and plot vector and raster-format spatial data in R. Additional topics include working with spatial metadata (extent and coordinate reference systems), reprojecting spatial data, and working with raster time series data.

This is a short project that can be used in-class or as homework. It involves just a few questions and it is intended to help students understand the idea of Gibbs free energy. It cannot completely stand alone. I use it after I have talked about Gibbs free energy for 20 minutes. It helps clarify my lecture.

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