This document includes two activities related to earthquake base isolation. Learners explore earthquake hazards and damage to buildings by constructing model buildings and subjecting the buildings to ground vibration (shaking similar to earthquake vibrations) on a small shake table. Base isolation a powerful tool for earthquake engineering. It is meant to enable a building to survive a potentially devastating seismic impact through a proper initial design or subsequent modifications. The buildings are constructed by two- or three-person learner teams.

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In this activity, students learn about how climate change is affecting the Arctic ecosystem and then investigate how this change is impacting polar bear populations. Students analyze maps of Arctic sea ice, temperature graphs, and polar bear population data to answer questions about the impact of climate change on the Arctic ecosystem.

This short interactive activity has learners to manipulate fault blocks to better understand different types of earthquake-generating faults in different tectonic settings--extensional, convergent, and strike-slip. Fault models aid in visualizing and understanding faulting and plate motions because the instructor and their students can manipulate a three-dimensional model for a true hands-on experience.

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Welcome to the Nanotechnology 501, a series of lectures designed to provide an introduction to nanotechnology.

Do geoscientists understand the meaning of floods and their role within the broader context of ecological and societal impacts? In this unit, students are introduced to the concept of flooding and the mechanisms that cause different types of floods in natural and urban environment. Students will interpret annual maximum flow series to relate the magnitude of past flow events to their frequency. Students will explore different datasets to describe the magnitude of flood, its spatial extent in the form of a map and its socio/economic impacts.

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Online-ready: The exercise is electronic and could be done individually or in small online groups. Lecture is designed to be interactive and really needs to be done synchronously.

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This unit introduces students to the statistical concepts that are used to determine the relationships between peak flow magnitude, return periods, and societal risk. The intent is that when a student hears or uses the term "100-year flood," they understand how it is obtained. The vocabulary and techniques of flood frequency analysis (FFA) are introduced through demonstrations. In a formative assessment exercise, students will use concepts learned in demonstrations to conduct an FFA in a new river.

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A flood occurs when the flow rate in a river exceeds the capacity of a channel to transmit water downstream within its banks. How much water can a channel transmit? Answering this question requires measurements of channel and floodplain topography, coupled with the application of the physics of flow in channels. These complex concepts are embodied in the well-known Manning's Equation. In this unit, students evaluate the geometry of river channels and floodplains using LIDAR-derived data and compute the depths and velocities of flow rates within channels using Manning's equation.

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Most often, we characterize floods based on their return periods. Considering new land developments and the changing climate, what was once a 100-year flood may change over time. Thus, if we are going to experience the previously defined 100-year flood more frequently, the new 100-year flood may be what was a 500-year flood before. One may then wonder what will be the impact of this 500-year flood compared to a 100-year flood? Is it five times bigger and more damaging than a 100-year flood? The goal of this Unit 5 is to let students quantify floods for 100 and 500 year return periods, and map the corresponding flood inundation extents. The students will then use these results to see how the flood magnitude and the inundation area changes for these floods. The final inundation maps can also be used to estimate key infrastructure that may be vulnerable.
This unit serves as the Summative Assessment for the module. Data sets are provided for students to apply concepts learned in prior units to a new scenario. As with Unit 4, this unit uses HEC-RAS. It can be done by students largely outside of class time.

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