Assemble a regional geologic history by compiling observations made a several sites.

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Working with data, students develop 3-D understandings of Earth structures using inference to construct a block diagram from a collection of 2-D information.

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The 50-minute group-based activity for hundreds of students starts by constructing bio-zones for a given set of fossil ranges. Results are reviewed using a sequence of clicker questions to discuss the optimal biostratigraphic decisions, the necessary types of thinking, and how to articulate a concise yet complete textual description of corresponding biozones.

A set of stratigraphic logs is then used to interpret changes in depositional environment across space and time. Students also decide (and justify decisions) on the optimal choice of fossils for use when interpreting variations in depositional environment. The final result is an interpreted geologic section based on stratigraphic and biostratigraphic data.

This interpretive exercise is only three weeks into a first course on Earth and life through time, so guidance is provided using carefully designed question sequences posed using "clicker" (personal response system) and/or for individual or whole class discussion.

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Science students often have difficulty thinking about large spatial scales. The purpose of the exercise is to redo Eratosthenes' calculation of the radius of the Earth using data from to sites in ancient Egypt. The excercise teaches about the methodology of science - how Eratothenes figured it out - rather than worried about what the "right" answer is. It can also be used to discuss the role of models in geological thinking.

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An activity where students make a geologic timeline from calculator tape.

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In this activity, students view a Quicktime video animation based on data from the North American Volcanic and Intrusive Rock Database (NAVDAT) to learn about the history of volcanism in the western U.S. during the last 65 million years. Students are guided through the complex data-rich animation with a series of instructions and study questions which highlight time-space-composition relationships and link to plate tectonics.

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This activity from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific asks students to compress all of time (from the Big Bang until now) into one year.
First, they have to pick major events (younger students can be given them) - this can lead to lively discussion! You can certainly be adaptable here.
Second, the best thing to do is have the students guess where each event should be on the Cosmic Calendar.
Third, have them look up or be given the actual time period when the event occurred.
Fourth, have them calculate (or be given) the "date" on the Cosmic Calendar.
Fifth, discuss! Debate! Reflect!

Files cannot be uploaded as they are copyrighted but they are easily found and freely available.
Authors: Therese Puyau Blanchard, Andrew Fraknoi, and the staff of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
URL: http://www.astrosociety.org/edu/astro/act2/H2_Cosmic_Calendar.pdf

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This lab focuses on the identification of impact features, and how they can used to estimate the age of planetary surfaces. Key comcepts include understanding how the crater process has changed over geologic time; how those changes manifest themselves in the surficial record of planetary landforms; how other planetary processes modify surficial landforms; how the conditions of the Solar System have changed over time.

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In this lab, students are introduced to the difference between relative and absolute dating, using the students themselves as the material to be ordered. Initially, the students are asked to develop physical clues to put themselves in order from youngest to oldest (exposing the inferences we make unconsciously about people's ages), and this will be refined/modified using a list of current events from an appropriate historical period that more and more of the students will remember, depending on their age (among other variables). Absolute age is introduced by having the students order themselves by birth decade, year, month, and day, and comparing the absolute age order to the order worked out in the relative-dating exercise, with a discussion of dating precision and accuracy.

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A demonstration (with full class participation) to illustrate radioactive decay by flipping coins. Shows students visually the concepts of exponential decay, half-life and randomness. Works best in large classes -- the more people, the better.

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The goal of this pair of labs is for the students to learn to apply rock and fossil identification skills to determining rock formations, sedimentary depositional environments, age ranges, and, ultimately, to writing a geologic history of a sequence of rocks from Bryce, Zion, and Grand Canyons. During the first of the two labs, the students learn to make fossil and sedimentary structures identifications. They add these skills to their rock and mineral identification skills to make interpretations of the sedimentary environments along a generalized profile from terrestrial to offshore locations. During the second lab, they apply these skills to a sequence of rocks from the southwestern U.S. to interpret the environmental changes that have occurred over time. They also begin to learn how to use fossils to determine age ranges for these changing events. Once they put together all of their data, they construct a stratigraphic column and piece together a written narrative of the geologic history of the area. The students work in groups to collect their data and determine their stratigraphy. They write their geologic histories individually. The students learn how to apply their skills and knowledge to make interpretations and also learn how to support their determinations with data.

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In class, have students make a simple sketch of an outcrop shown in a slide (or computer projection) then discuss possible interpretations.

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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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This is an online learning experience that transports learners around the world to different locations related to the Cretaceous -- Paleogene (K -- Pg) extinction event. Students will collect and analyze evidence to explain how natural events impact life on Earth.
The KPg extinction event, which occurred 66 mya, caused the mass extinction of nearly 75% of the plant and animal species on Earth, including the dinosaurs. It is marked by a thin layer of sediment which can be found throughout the world in marine and terrestrial rocks.

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In this in-class activity, students are challenged to identify rock units and geologic features and determine the relative ages of these features without prior instruction in the classical methods of relative age determination.

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This activity is designed for large freshman courses (>200 students) and is used in-class. The activity requires a short (15 minute) overview of Earth history before students have the opportunity to work through various questions and problems. Tasks include simple math problems, critical thinking questions, and include place-based examples of geological situations for Arizona and California.

Students completing the activity will have knowledge of Earth history, knowledge of some geological disasters, and will have learned several different perspectives of timescales that affect various events on Earth.

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In this activity, students work in groups to put a set of cartoon cards in order, much in the way that we might assemble a geologic history. The primary goal of the activity is to explore the nature of science in general and the nature of geoscience or historical science specifically, without requiring any content knowledge.

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The first problem in this assignment is the culmination of the unit on energy balance and greenhouse gases. The students have already calculated blackbody temperatures as a function of albedo, sun's luminosity and distance from sun. They have also already calculated the magnitude of the greenhouse effect (optical thickness) of the modern atmosphere. In this first problem, the students apply these same calculations to the Faint Young Sun hypothesis and infer what can account for the geological evidence for liquid water on earth since 4.3 Ga. The second problem follows an introductory lecture on radiometric decay and radiometric dating. The students have seen the decay equation and learned what are decay constants and stable versus radioactive isotopes. In this problem, the students apply these concepts to radiocarbon.

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For this actiivty the students will watch a Nova documentary called "The Four-Winged Dinosaur." The documentary follows two teams of scientists as they create replicas of microraptor, a dinosaur with four feathered wings, in an attempt to determine how flight evolved in birds (from the ground up or from the trees down). As the students watch the video, they should think about each hypothesis and pay attention to the lines of evidence presented on both sides of the argument. The students are given specific questions to answer while watching the video that will help them pay attention to key ideas. Outside of class they are responsible for writing a short essay (~1 page, typed) describing which origin of flight hypothesis that they believe is the most plausible and why. Students must support their argument with evidence presented in the video.

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Students must associate different dinosaur trackways with their locations and the rock formations containing the trackways based on clues given from various points of view.

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