This website features descriptions of volcanic features and events in Idaho's three geologic regions. Descriptions include integrated definitions and links to related topics. The site also incorporates links to the geologic time scale, Craters of the Moon Volcanic Field and more in-depth information about Idaho volcanoes

This activity uses an analogy to illustrate the scale of geologic time and our limited view of the Earth's history. It relates the history of the Earth to a drive across the country. The drive is 4560 km (rough distance between Washington D.C. and Seattle), with 1 km equaling one million years of Earth's history. This analogy is used by the author as a springboard to talk about the limits of our personal perceptions and experiences when making conclusions. Learning goals, context for use, teaching tips, materials, assessment tips and related resources are provided.

In this short activity, students make a timeline of Earth's history using calculator tape. The tape is 4.56 meters long, so that one billion years is equal to one meter. This exercise is designed to introduce students to the scale of Earth's history and help them gain a familiarity with some major events. It also teaches about scaling, the metric system, as well as the concepts of large numbers and deep time. The activity may be used in an introductory geoscience course. Learning goals, context for use, teaching tips, materials, assessment tips and related resources are provided.

In this lab, students use dice to simulate radioactive decay. Students create a standard decay curve for a fictional element, calculate the half-life of this element, and, using the information their graph, "date" rocks that contain the new element. The use of dice has some advantages over similar exercises because the half-life is not immediately obvious to students and they will need to experimentally determine it. Learning goals, context for use, teaching tips, materials, assessment tips and related resources are provided.

Earth and all the other planets and moons of our Solar System have been continuously pelted by asteroids and comets ever since their formation. On Earth, wind and water have eroded away most of the evidence; various other geologic processes have concealed it; oceans and vegetation now cover much of the rest. This activity will help your students understand how NASA scientists are discovering evidence of impact craters through satellite images and technology, which enables us to see landforms that we can't see with our eyes alone. Students consider the sudden release of a tremendous amount of kinetic energy when an extraterrestrial object strikes the Earth. They write about the effects that such a collision might have on the land, atmosphere, water, and living things. Students then read descriptions of the actual effects of impact events and the evidence these leave behind. In small groups, they study satellite images that show possible evidence of impact events. They select one or two of these images to interpret for the class. In their interpretations, they explain how the image does or does not show evidence of an impact event. To demonstrate their understanding of the role of impact events in shaping the Earth, students write a series of guidance questions for a field expedition to determine whether or not a given landform is an impact crater.

GEOLogic questions are puzzles that were developed to support students understanding of geoscience concepts while challenging them to develop better logic and problem solving skills. In this exercise, students are asked to match up several unique fossils with the sites and locations where they were found, as well as their geologic age. This activity is appropriate for a high school science class or an introductory level undergraduate geoscience course, and can be given as an in-class assignment or homework assignment. Learning goals, context for use, teaching tips, materials, assessment tips and related resources are provided.

GEOLogic questions are puzzles that were developed to support students understanding of geoscience concepts while challenging them to develop better logic and problem solving skills. In this exercise, students are asked to match five top museums with two fossils that they have on display based on clues presented from various points of view. This activity is appropriate for a high school science class or an introductory level undergraduate geoscience course, and can be given as an in-class assignment or homework assignment. Learning goals, context for use, teaching tips, materials, assessment tips and related resources are provided.

GEOLogic questions are puzzles that were developed to support students understanding of geoscience concepts while challenging them to develop better logic and problem solving skills. In this exercise, students are asked to identify states with their state fossil and the year in which it was declared, based on clues given from various points of view. Learning goals, context for use, teaching tips, materials, assessment tips and related resources are provided.

GEOLogic questions are puzzles that were developed to support students understanding of geoscience concepts while challenging them to develop better logic and problem solving skills. In this exercise, students are asked to match up the five largest mass extinction events with their relative dates, approximate duration, and severity (percentage of species that became extinct) based on clues given from various perspectives. This activity is appropriate for a high school science class or an introductory level undergraduate geoscience course, and can be given as an in-class assignment or for homework. Learning goals, context for use, teaching tips, materials, assessment tips and related resources are provided.

GEOLogic questions are puzzles that were developed to support students understanding of geoscience concepts while challenging them to develop better logic and problem solving skills. In this exercise, students are asked to match up each of the Stooges with their favorite group and species of dinosaur based on clues given about which order and group each Stooge prefers. This activity is appropriate for a high school science class or an introductory level undergraduate geoscience course, and can be given as an in-class assignment or homework assignment. Learning goals, context for use, teaching tips, materials, assessment tips and related resources are provided.

This site provides a non-technical description of the origin and evolution of the landscape of the Great Plains physiographic province. Information about the history and descriptions of the various landforms of the Great Plains is included.

This resource presents a table of the Geologic Time Scale. The time scale begins with a brief description of the Precambrian Era, and proceeds through the Cambrian Period starting 544 million years ago and concluding with the Holocene Epoch of today. The time periods are explained and include the dates, scientific names, historical descriptions, and common names. The table is organized by Era, Period or System, and Epoch or Series.

Why are the Rocky Mountains so far inland? How do we preserve the changing Amazon rain forest? When will the Sun fling parts of itself towards Earth? The video magazine "Journeys through Earth and Space" follows three NASA research teams tackling these questions with supercomputers. "Journeys" begins with a short introduction that explains what supercomputers do and how scientists tap their power to recreate the universe mathematically. The three stories then show how the teams are using their software to better understand, and perhaps one day predict, nature. Researcher interviews mix with scientific imagery (observations, visualizations, animations), and stunning nature footage. An accompanying Video Resource Guide provides background material and classroom activities for Grades 9-12 (length: 18:00 minutes).

These lessons are designed for earth science and biology students in middle and high school classrooms, though extension suggestions for older and younger students will allow you to adapt each lesson for younger and older audiences. The lessons are designed to complement the Living Edens: Kamchatka program; each lesson will indicate clips from the program that focus on the topic at hand, though the lessons function equally well as stand-alone content.

In this lab, students use STELLA modeling software to see what combinations of runoff and evaporation might have led to Pleistocene lake level oscillations. This exercise is designed to explore the impact of changes in climate on the level of lakes in the Owens River system, but it can be adapted to other areas. Learning goals, context for use, teaching tips, materials, assessment tips and related resources are provided.

Recent discoveries from seafloor and other rocks suggest that Earth's crust might be host to vast, unexplored ecosystems of microbes. Join Hubert Staudigel as he describes his recent expedition to Antarctica and how he is exploring inhospitable environments for microbes that may provide clues to the early history of life on Earth. (56 minutes)

This activity was developed to introduce upper level undergraduate students to dynamical systems modeling. In this exercise, students create a STELLA model of the radioactive decay process. They then learn how the special radioactive series 238U - 206Pb and 237U - 205Pb can be used to determine both the time when a rock initially crystallized and when it underwent a recrystallization, even when the sample being dated was not a closed system. Learning goals, context for use, teaching tips, materials, assessment tips and related resources are provided.

This activity leads students through derivations of the equations associated with radiometric dating: the radioactive decay equation, the half-life equation and the age equation. After the equations have been derived, students are asked to apply them to geologic applications. This activity is appropriate for lower division undergraduates. Learning goals, context for use, teaching tips, materials, assessment tips and related resources are provided.

This in-class demonstration involves using a 1000 sheet roll of strong toilet paper to demonstrate the vast length of time involved in Deep Time. Important events in geologic history are marked on the toilet paper. As the toilet paper is unrolled, from the front of the room to the back and around the room, students begin to get a sense of how little time humanity has been on Earth and how much time is really involved. Learning goals, context for use, teaching tips, materials, assessment tips and related resources are provided.