Identifying Ocean Basins
Danielle Schmitt, Princeton University
In this multi-part activity students investigate the location, width, and depth of, as well bathymetric features present in, different ocean basins. They first explore elevation and bathymetric profiles that span ...

Inquiry-based modeling in Earth Science
Beth Dushman, Howard Community College
Two activities are presented here, both using the Model-Based Inquiry method, in which students are introduced to a phenomenon, model an explanation, test those models with real scientific data, and share and ...

Paleontologists for a Day
Mattie Horne, Western Washington University; Robyn Mieko Dahl, Western Washington University
This activity uses hands-on interaction with 3D-modeled fossils to guide students and educators through an exploration of critical geoscience concepts (deep time, paleoclimate, functional morphology, and ...

Bergeron M&M's
Alicia Mullens, De Anza College
After explaining the concepts of Vapor Pressure and Saturation Vapor Pressure to my students, I use an "activity board" to represent a cloud along with M&M's to represent water vapor molecules to ...

Get your hands wet!: Engaging elementary students in large-scale processes with hands-on models
Leah Youngquist, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus; Elizabeth Hajek, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
This activity is a set of interactive demonstrations about large-scale geologic processes. In the first demonstration, students conduct guided experiments using a stream table to discover how material is moved ...

Measuring Ground Motion with GPS: How GPS Works
Beth Pratt-Sitaula, EarthScope Consortium; Shelley Olds, EarthScope Consortium
This activity helps students better understand how GPS measures ground motion. Students work with models of GPS stations and printouts of typical GPS velocity vectors found near different tectonic boundaries. ...

PANNING FOR "GOLD": HELPING STUDENTS EVALUATE WEB PAGES FOR CLASS USE
Fred Marton, Bergen Community College; Lynn Schott, Bergen Community College
It is not unusual for students to search the web for sources to use for their classes. It is also not unusual for some of those sources to be unacceptable for a variety of reasons. To help students recognize which ...

Earth's climate system
Rondi Davies, CUNY Queensborough Community College
An exploration of Earth's climate system was created for a physical geology laboratory class at an urban community college in New York City. At the outset, students engage with a phenomenon-based exploration ...

Facilitating Effective Group Projects in Geoscience Courses
Sasha Seroy, University of Washington-Seattle Campus; Dana Thomas, The University of Texas at Austin
This workshop will explore effective ways to facilitate group projects to promote the development of workforce skills for students. We will provide an overview of the benefits of group projects for geoscience ...

Enhancing Teaching and Learning about Water: Sustained Professional Development for K-12 Science Teachers
Brenda Costello, The University of Texas at Arlington; Silvia Jessica Mostacedo Marasovic, The University of Texas at Arlington; Cory Forbes, The University of Texas at Arlington
The hydrologic cycle plays a crucial role in Earth's ability to sustain the complex ecosystems that make the planet rich and diverse. As the world's population increases, water resources may become ...