Students will make observations of weathering on different rock types in a cemetery. Students will also make observations of rock types of the Minneopa Falls.

In this two-day activity, students monitor a simulated evolving volcanic crisis at a convergent plate boundary (Cascadia). Using monitoring data and geologic hazard maps, students make a series of forecasts for the impending eruption and associated risks. By the end of the activity, students will have learned the outcome of the eruption and assess the impacts of the eruption of Mount Rainier on specific locations around the volcano.
This unit is a continuation of Unit 5, in which students analyzed simulated pre-eruption seismic, tilt, and gas emission data. In this, the second day of the simulation, students update their eruption forecasts based on new data (in the prework) and then (in groups in class) by combining information from multiple data sets. In class, each group assesses the vulnerability of one or more assigned locations near Mount Rainier. The exercise culminates with students assessing the impacts of the simulated eruption at their assigned locations.

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This video segment adapted from NOVA shows how Galileo, using his newly developed refracting telescope, observed four of Jupiter's moons, the first astronomical bodies to be discovered since ancient times.

This fun Web article is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. Here, they learn about Earth science. Our Earth Is Always Changing looks at the fast changes produced by volcanoes and earthquakes and the much slower results of continental drift and mountain formation. A Peek Inside Our Planet explains and compares the Earth's four layers. Earth's Layers Work Together explores the role that each layer plays in the greenhouse effect, which makes life on Earth possible. Humans Are Just a Tiny Part of Earth's Long History puts the past 4.5 billion years into perspective.

This page from the Volcano World website contains a summary account of the 1959 eruption at Kilauea Iki which is illustrated by photographs and videos.

This project is designed to get students thinking about some of the basic properties of sedimentary rocks that can be used to interpret their environment of deposition. In particular, it focues on characterizing lithology (rock type), bedding style, and grain size for rock units from the Pennsylvanian age Jackfork Group.

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Required for all Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences majors in the Environmental Science track, this course is an introduction to current research in the field. Stresses integration of central scientific concepts in environmental policy making and the chemistry, biology, and geology environmental science tracks. Revisits selected core themes for students who have already acquired a basic understanding of environmental science concepts. The topic for this term is geoengineering.

This interactive visualization adapted from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey illustrates the concept of albedo, which is the measure of how much solar radiation is reflected from Earth's surface.

This activity is a lab inquiry-base lesson on the rock cycle. Students will look at the parts of the rock cycle by examining three rocks. Based on their observations and data they collect they should be able to develop a hypothesis and an experiment to test this hypothesis.

In this classroom guided inquiry lesson, students will explore the properties of rocks. Students will make observations of granite and develop a hypothesis explaining what makes a rock.

This lesson is a classroom activity where students learn about paleontologist Mary Anning, briefly learn about sedimentary rock, and complete observation drawings of Platteville Limestone fossils.

This module teaches basic concepts in igneous petrology through relating hand specimen identification of lavas to major element geochemistry, using the Central American volcanic arc as an example.

The GigaPan Virtual Field Trip is used as a pre and post assessment of student understanding of basic physical geology concepts and processes. Students are directed to a GigaPan image of Peyto Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada and asked to list observations and provide interpretations based on their observations.

This kick-off activity sets the stage for further explorations and activities in Explore! To the Moon and Beyond! - a resource developed specifically for use in libraries. As a group, learners will discuss what they know about Earth's Moon. They read books to learn more about the lunar environment and history of exploration. They use their knowledge to create a drawing or model of the landscape (optional).

Ten brief descriptions are provided of cases in which there appear to be ethical issues in the practice of geology. Most are drawn from engineering geology, but no detailed prior knowledge of applied geology is necessary. The intent of these descriptions is to nucleate discussion about ethical decisions that must be made in the practice of geology.

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This winning entry in the museum's Young Naturalist Awards 1999 by Mary, a 13 year old student from New York, takes a look at how rocks and fossils provide much of Earth's history. Her essay discusses the great variety of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks found on the north shore of Long Island, how all three types were formed and the specific rocks she collected.

The objective of this project is to use a sample of sand from a give are to tell its geologic history. Each student is given a 50 mL tube of sand labeled with the latitude and longitude of where it was found. They must then use this information along with analysis of the sand itself to tell the story of its formation.

In this lab exercise, students examine one or more metamorphic rocks and use various approaches to estimating and calculating the pressure-temperature conditions at which the rocks equilibrated. The exercise involves hand sample description, petrography, interpretation of phase diagrams, and calculations of a phase diagram or P-T conditions from given equations.

This website is designed to introduce the fundamental concepts of igneous and metamorphic petrology to users who have some background in geology including mineralogy. It is intended for students who are taking an intermediate-level college course in petrology, but it includes many interactive diagrams and images that will be useful for teachers of petrology.

These assignments are adaptations of field labs to incorporate writing. For each field lab, students write a partial geologic report, consisting of a description (or "Structural Data") section, an interpretation section, and appropriate supporting figures (potentially including stereonets, field sketches, maps, cross-sections, etc.).
Handouts given at the beginning of lab list: the goals to be accomplished in the field (measurement of foliations and lineations, measurement of bedding around a fold, description of structures, field sketches, etc.),
the figures expected in the write-up (stereonets, field sketches, etc.),
a list of information to include in the description section, and a list of questions to address in the interpretation section. Depending on the field area, students may be given two or more competing models to test in the field or may be asked to relate descriptive analysis to kinematic or mechanical analysis. This adaptation can be used for field labs at all levels, from labs designed to review field techniques and identify basic types of secondary structures to labs that simulate research experience. This type of write-up improves student writing by giving students practice using terminology and describing spatial relationships, and improves critical thinking skills by requiring written interpretation of structural data.

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