Teaching Activities
These teaching activities have been designed with the aim of helping develop students' quantitative skills, literacy, or reasoning. To search by a specific discipline, use the 'Refine the Results' links on the right.
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Results 1 - 10 of 714 matches
Unit 3: Codorus Creek case study: Measuring and interpreting seismic refraction data
Using seismic refraction data in a case study for urban renewal. Andy Parsekian, University of Wyoming, aparseki@uwyo.edu
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This unit presents an applied Case Study example and the associated concepts related to designing a seismic survey and analyzing the data. Parts of the instrument are discussed and practical experience simulating ...
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Human Wave: Modeling P and S Waves
IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) and ShakeAlert
Lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, learners are the medium that P and S waves travel through in this simple, but effective demonstration. Once "performed", the principles of P and S waves will not be easily forgotten. This demonstration explores two of the four main ways energy propagates from the hypocenter of an earthquake as P and S seismic waves. The physical nature of the Human Wave demonstration makes it a highly engaging kinesthetic learning activity that helps students grasp, internalize and retain abstract information.
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Unit 2: Global Sea-Level Response to Temperature Changes: Temperature and Altimetry Data
Bruce Douglas, Indiana University-Bloomington; Susan Kaspari, Central Washington University
What is the contribution of seawater thermal expansion to recent sea-level rise? In this unit, students create time-series graphs of global averaged sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) data spanning 1880–2017 ...
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How Do We Know Where an Earthquake Originated?
Jeffrey Barker (Binghamton University) & Michael Hubenthal (IRIS)
Students use real seismograms to determine the arrival times for P and S waves and use these times to determine the distance of the seismic station from the earthquake. Seismograms from three stations are provided to determine the epicenter using the S – P (S minus P) method. Because real seismograms contain some "noise" with resultant uncertainty in locating arrival times of P and S waves, this activity promotes appreciation for uncertainties in interpretation of real scientific data.
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Unit 1: Exploring the Reservoirs and Pathways and Methods to Measure the Hydrologic Cycle
Jon Harvey (Fort Lewis College) and Becca Walker (Mt. San Antonio College)
How does water move throughout the Earth system? How do scientists measure the amount of water that moves through these pathways? This unit provides an alternative way for students to learn the major components of ...
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Unit 4: The Magic of Geophysical Inversion
Compiled by Lee Slater, Rutgers University Newark (lslater@newark.rutgers.edu)
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This unit introduces the student to the concept of geophysical inversion, which is the process of estimating the geophysical properties of the subsurface from the geophysical observations. The basic mechanics of ...
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7. Better Ways to Illuminate
Maurice Crawford, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore
In this module, students compare three types of lamps that are used for lighting: incandescent, compact fluorescent (CFL) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Students collect data on the amount of heat and light ...
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Unit 6: Hydrologic Balance and Climate Change
Kirsten Menking, Vassar College
In this unit, students create a STELLA model of the Owens River chain of lakes in eastern California and then experiment with different climate change scenarios to simulate the Pleistocene history of lake filling ...
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Unit 7: Heat Flow in Permafrost
Kirsten Menking, Vassar College
In this unit, students create a STELLA model of heat flow in the top 1 km of Earth's crust to explore the use of Arctic borehole temperature profiles as recorders of anthropogenic warming. The exercise draws ...
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Unit 8: Thermohaline Circulation
David Bice, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
In this module, students first review some background material on density-driven deep currents in the oceans, and then create a STELLA model of the thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean. The model ...
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