This is an interactive lecture where students answer questions about demonstrations shown in several movie files. They learn to connect what they have learned about molecules, phases of matter, silicate crystal structures, and igneous rock classification with magma viscosity, and to connect magma viscosity with volcano explosiveness and morphology.

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This is an interactive lecture where students answer questions about demonstrations shown in several movie files. They learn to connect what they have learned about molecules, phases of matter, silicate crystal structures, and igneous rock classification with magma viscosity, and to connect magma viscosity with volcano explosiveness and morphology.

Students in a learning community that includes classics and geology complete labs involving rocks and minerals. The class meets at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a weekend; in groups, the students document and describe the earth materials displayed in art halls of ancient cultures. The following week reformed groups meet in class to compare and contrast their museum-based findings and explore the geological concepts that underlie the use of materials by ancient cultures (jigsaw assignment). It is assumed that students have some prior knowledge of the ancient cultures being studied at the museum through a paired course, assigned reading, or introductory lecture.

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This is a laboratory-style investigation wherein students examine the petrography and major-element geochemistry of 6 samples of mid-ocean ridge basalt and related differentiated lavas recovered from the Cleft segment of southern Juan de Fuca Ridge, a medium spreading-rate MOR in the northeast Pacific Ocean. Lava types range from basalt to dacite.

After some initial background information on basalts, the MOR environment, and the study area students investigate four thin sections, beginning with typical basalts and ending with a dacite. They are led through a series of directed questions that help them gain familiarity with commonly occurring minerals and textures in mid-ocean ridge lavas. Questions direct students toward the interpretation of quench-related textural features and crystallization sequence, as well as a few other textural observations and petrographic techniques. After proceeding through the initial four thin sections and associated questions student are then asked to undertake "full thin-section descriptions" of the remaining two samples.Â

After investigating the thin-sections and determining a possible crystallization sequence from the petrographic data gathered (plagioclase followed by olivine followed by augitic clinopyroxene followed by pigeonite), students examine a P-T phase diagram to constrain possible pressures of formation. Discovering that crystallization pressures were low (less than ~ 0.75 GPa) students then examine a phase diagram of the olivine-plagioclase-augite-quartz system (olivine-quartz-augite ternary, projected from the plane of plagioclase saturation) [Walker, 1979]. Students draw 2 possible liquid lines of descent (LLD) onto the diagram, and then use their petrographic observations to qualitatively plot the samples along that LLD, determining a relative sequence of chemical evolution for the suite of samples. Lastly, given those determinations, student graph the major element data for the lava suite to infer paths of chemical evolution and the effects of fractional crystallization (possibly coupled with magma mixing).

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In this multi-week project, students collect samples in the field, analyze them using various tools and instruments, then present their results and interpretations.

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The purpose of the activity is to get students out of the traditional classroom setting and to spend several hours navigating their way between various localities on campus where different rock types are used for a variety of purposes. Students are encouraged to bring along their introductory geology laboratory manuals to remind them of the techniques used to correctly identify rock types. The activity is designed to promote enjoyment of the task (clues need to be "solved" to figure out the location of the next outcrop in the sequence) and to encourage students to follow the task through to completion. As a result, students invariably spend many hours engaged in the activity despite the fact that it is completely optional.

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This optional field trip is designed to augment the in-class learning experience in introductory physical geology by providing students the opportunity to see firsthand local geological features and understand their context in the long-term tectonic evolution of the western United States. The university is conveniently located in a portion of the American west where a plethora of geological features are readily accessible over a total field trip duration of 6 hours. Over a total of 6 field stops, students are presented with an opportunity to observe features relevant to topics learned in class involving rock types, volcanic features (lava flows and ash fall deposits), faults and folds, mass wasting features, catastrophic flood deposits (Bonneville and Missoula floods), and loess deposits.

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This is an online adventure game in which players prospect for minerals on a virtual geologically realistic world.

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This lab helps students bring together their ability to describe and identify rocks and to push students to think about how the rocks formed based upon their understanding of the geological processes taking place at certain tectonic boundaries.

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In this lab students receive two small blocks (1 cm3) of chocolate (white and dark), and follow it through the entire rock cycle. The chocolate blocks are melted on a hot plate, with different melting temperatures and rheologies due to compositional differences. The "magma" is then cooled either slowly or quickly, and the resulting textures are examined and compared to granite and basalt hand samples. The "igneous" chocolate is then ground and abraded to show erosion, and the eroded material is pressure-lithified to form "sedimentary" chocolate. The sedimentary chocolate then undergoes greater pressure to mimic metamorphism, and additional heat re-melts the chocolate back into magma. Students compare the chocolate "rocks" in each of these stages with real rock samples. The final assignment is to describe the "life story" of complex conglomerate rock sample. The lab is a bit messy and takes a bit of preparation, but students come away with a significantly better understanding of the rock cycle as a whole and each of its component parts.

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The students will participate as matter traveling through the rock cycle while drawing cards from 4 rock matter stations (magma, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic). Afterwards, the student will demonstrate their path using a laser pointer in a projected large the rock cycle diagram.

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The emphasis of this course is to use Trace Element Geochemistry to understand the origin and evolution of igneous rocks. The approach is to discuss the parameters that control partitioning of trace elements between phases and to develop models for the partitioning of trace elements between phases in igneous systems, especially between minerals and melt. Subsequently, published papers that are examples of utilizing Trace Element Geochemistry are read and discussed.

Schematic Play-Doh model of the Wakemup Pluton and surrounding rock units, present day state of erosion

Provenance: Carol Ormand Ph.D., Carleton College
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.
Students work through a set of questions about a geologic map of an igneous intrusion and surrounding rock units. These questions focus students' attention on the topography, geomorphology, lithology, and structural geology of the region. When they have figured out the geology to the best of their abilities, we show them Play-Doh models of the pluton and country rock in various stages of erosion.

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Given the extensive literature on the composition and evolution of continental crust there are a number of teaching strategies that can be employed to encourage active learning by students. A critical reading of this collection of articles will provide students with a good opportunity to evaluate the chemical isotopic and physical evidence that has led to the development of these models of continental crustal growth. These instructional approaches build on recommendations from Project 2061, Science for all Americans:
1) Start with questions about nature.
2) Engage students actively.
3) Concentrate onthe collection and use of evidence.
4) Provide historical perspectives.
5) Use a team approach.
6) Do not separate knowing from finding out.
A compilation from the primary literature has been provided (see the reference list at the end of this web page: http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/earlyearth/questions/crust.html), along with guiding questions for deeper exploration and discovery. Recommended instructional methods include: jigsaw method, role playing or debates (have each student play the role of Richard Armstrong, Ross Taylor, William Fyfe...), reading the primary literature, or problem-based learning (which is purposefully ambiguous and addresses questions that require independent discovery).

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