This is a three-week lab sequence aimed at determining the approximate amount of carbon stored in a local bog and teaching skills for solving complex problems through collaborative work.

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A homework/classroom activity where students collect historical earthquake information and use it to forecast the probability of larger earthquakes.

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Trench logs of the San Andreas Fault at Pallett Creek, CA are the data base for a lab or homework assignment that teaches about relative dating, radiometric dating, fault recurrence intervals and the reasons for uncertainty in predicting geologic phenomena. Students are given a trench log that includes several fault strands and dated stratigraphic horizons. They estimate the times of faulting based on bracketing ages of faulted and unfaulted strata. They compile a table with the faulting events from the trench log and additional events recognized in nearby trenches, then calculate maximum, minimum and average earthquake recurrence intervals for the San Andreas Fault in this area. They conclude by making their own prediction for the timing of the next earthquake. While basically an exercise in determining relative ages of geologic horizons and events, this assignment includes radiometric dates, recurrence intervals, and an obvious societal significance that has been well received by students.
With minor modifications, this exercise has been used successfully with elementary school students through university undergraduate geology majors. Less experienced students can work in groups, with each group determining the age of a single fault strand; combining the results from different groups and calculating recurrence intervals can then be done as a class activity. University students in an introductory geology course for non-majors can add their data from the trench log to an existing table with other faulting events already provided. The exercise can be made more challenging for advanced students by using logs from several different trenches, requiring students to design the table themselves, and giving students the uncertainties for the radiometric dates rather than simple ages for the strata. Most students -- at all levels -- are initially frustrated by their inability to determine an exact date of faulting from the available data. They gain a new appreciation for the task of the geoscientist who attempts to relate geologic phenomena to the human, rather than geologic, time scale.

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Students determine the energy efficiency of different methods of heating substances in the lab and then assess the economic and environmental costs.

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This activity is divided into two parts - 1) Using data from primary literature to calculate mantle potential temperature beneath a ridge and an oceanic island ("hotspot"). 2) Using the transition zone thickness observed beneath a "hotspot" (Hawaii) to analyze contributions from anomalous temperature and composition. In addition to the student activity sheets, an Excel key, instructor notes, and student handouts are included below.

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This activity uses Google Earth to explore the distribution of plate boundaries and hotspot volcanoes on Earth. It uses the ages and locations of the hotspot volcanoes to determine the direction and rate of plate motion.

This activity is an introduction to population sampling techniques. Students' will identify weaknesses and strengths of a variety of techniques and determine the best applications of the various methods identified.

This activity is intended to extend students' learning of fundamental physics concepts (e.g. reflection, refraction and transmission of energy) through a real-world application.

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For nearly 100 years, the site that is now High Cliff State Park near Sherwood, WI was the site of a quicklime kiln. Local Silurian dolomite from the Niagara Escarpment was quarried and baked in large kilns before being shipped by boat on Lake Winnebago at the base of the escarpment. Rejected quicklime spoils are still present near the site of the kiln ruins, resting on the slope leading to the Lake Winnebago shoreline. This project is designed to use basic, low-cost field techniques to determine if any quicklime is moving downslope and into Lake Winnebago. Methods of analysis will include: 1) Placing survey stakes on the quicklime slope to see if they slope is moving, 2) Take several water samples from various points along the lakeshore to test the dissolved mineral content, and 3) Take several water samples from various points along the lakeshore to test the pH. Students will be asked to return to the site several times over the course of a semester in order take samples (particularly after precipitation events) and check the position of the stakes. Students will then use to data to project how far out into the lake the effects of the quicklime extend.

Key words: Quicklime, mass wasting, Niagara Escarpment, water pollution, dissolved minerals

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In this activity the students calculate recurrence intervals for some historical crests on the Chippewa River and identify the 100-year flood plain in downtown Eau Claire. The students also evaluate the effect of a 20ft high stage event along the whole Chippewa River with the goal of showing how topography influences the size of the area affected by flooding events. The students also evaluate the effectiveness of a flood gate system located on campus.

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Students are asked to determine the break even profit point for a service to be offered on campus, using an online break even calculator.

This activity is an inquiry lab where students observe the effects of temperature change on nitrogen dioxide gas, a common component of polluted air, to determine its color.

In this field lab activity, students will determine the density, pH and water content of prairie soil, transition soil, woods soil, and riverbed soil and compare their findings.

Gravels deposited as a result of continental glaciation are used to teach introductory-level earth-science students the application of the scientific method in a cooperative learning mode which utilizes hands-on, minds-on analyses. Processes that involve erosion, transportation, and deposition of pebble- and cobble-sized clasts are considered by students in formulating and testing hypotheses.

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This activity is a two-part (three week) lab in which students initially develop a claim (non-scientific) and learn how to use evidence to support a claim. They then are provided with a scientific research question for which they need to make a claim supported with evidence from their own models (river/stream tables). Based on their results, they then ask a new research question, design the model, carry out their tests and report their results.

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As a culminating assignment in Natural Hazards Planning, students work in teams to create 15-year mitigation strategy for a selected jurisdiction using the FEMA 386 methodology for prioritizing mitigation options.

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The lesson content focuses on designing investigations concerning the notion of scale through a series of investigations on their campus. The overarching goal is to foster a connection to the earth through an investigation of the local environment.

Through this activity, students in a liberal arts mathematics class will develop experience with real-world statistical concepts through the context of sustainability: estimation, survey writing, sampling techniques, and data analysis.

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This activity is a multi-part lab designed to allow students to develop their ability to visualize folds in 3-dimensions using Visible Geology and stereonets.

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Students spend the semester developing a stream restoration proposal for a local watershed. Students are asked to collect geomorphic field data and use these data to design a restoration plan.