Visualizing Earth from the Classroom
VisEarth Geology Activities
The following 10 VisEarth geology activities are linked to detailed lesson plans, student activity
sheets, commentary and photographs of the actual implementation in Reynolds' classroom.
Activity 1: Topography Activity-Building a Model of Mt. Woodson
This activity
helps students to visualize, in three dimensions, features represented by contour lines on a topographic map. Students worked in groups to make a three dimensional topographic model of Mount Woodson.
Students
were able to view Mt. Woodson from the classroom. When we used this activity in other schools
we used a feature from the topographic map of the local quadrangle. We surmised that a local
feature would be of greater interest to the students.
Lesson Plan
Activity Sheets
OPMS implementation
Activity 2: Comparing Topographical Maps to
3-Dimensional Models
In Activity 2, students were introduced to the program VistaPro, an inexpensive virtual reality imaging program that uses real world
data from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) and NASA. Students were able to create, animate and explore
landscapes of their choice. The students viewed several animations that the classroom teacher had previously
created. They were asked to create a topographic map of areas after viewing the 3-D fly-around or drive through
movie. The students then looked at the DEM (digital elevation model) and compared their drawing to the DEM. They learned
how to depict craters, mountains and canyons in topographic maps.
Time permitting, students were able to render their own images using
VistaPro DEM's. They used the preview feature to fly through (wire-frame) their
landscapes.
Lesson Plan
Activity Sheets
OPMS implementation
Activity 3: Discovering the Principle of Isostasy Using Common House-Hold
Materials
Using samples of wood, sponge, and styrofoam to represent the continental and oceanic
lithosphere, students learned about density and isostasy.
The students each made their own predictions about the household materials (used to
represent various Earth layers) while
samples of the wood, sponge, and Styrofoam were displayed. The students then completed the
experiments in which the properties of each of the household materials are determined.
Lesson Plan
Activity Sheets
OPMS implementation
Activity 4: Understanding
the Earth, Both on the Inside and Out, Using Our Dynamic Planet
This activity centered
around the interactive CD-ROM Our Dynamic Planet. Students were able to discover
properties of the Earth by accessing vast databases through a simple,
"user-friendly" interface.
Our Dynamic Planet CD-ROM -
This activity centered
around the interactive CD-ROM Our Dynamic Planet created at U.C. Santa Barbara
by Dr. William A. Prothero, Jr. This teaching tool was created for first-year University students, but we have been using it successfully
with middle school students.
This software provided students with access to a wide
range of global data that they can explore for themselves. Students can see the
data that supports the theory of plate tectonics. There are three major parts
to this CD: the map activity, the profile game, and the geography game. The map activity is
the part that we concentrated on, but we also used the profile game to help the students become accustomed to
the information shown in a profile and to teach students how to use the program.
The map activity contains
a vast amount of data which was easily accessible to the student. Some of the databases that the students accessed
were the elevation, earthquake, and volcano databases. In the visual
display for the map activity, students were shown a Mercator projection
of the world and were able to zoom in on any section. They used the
profile tool to draw a line across a feature they wished to examine in profile view. The profile shows up beneath the map. The CD's tutorial does an
excellent job of explaining what information is shown in the profile.
Lesson Plan
Activity Sheets
OPMS implementation
Activity 5: Introduction to Seismicity
Students were introduced to seismic waves, using a demonstration with the
slinkies to explain P and S waves and their properties. This activity is an important precursor to
using the program Epicenter, in
Activity 6. See the lesson plans for more information and
a figure showing the different motions.
Lesson Plan
Activity Sheets
OPMS implementation
Activity 6: The Student as Seismologist: Triangulating
the Location of an Earthquake Using Epicenter
Using the program Epicenter, students studied why earthquakes occur where
they do and how to determine the location of an earthquake. Students became
seismologists trying to triangulate the location of an earthquake by using seismograms.
Another interesting topic that can be addressed using this activity are map projection and
great circles.
Lesson Plan
Activity Sheets
OPMS implementation
Activity 7: Fault
Investigations Using the Image Processing Software, NIH Image
This activity allowed students to use the graphics program NIH Image
and images of tectonic faults from the EarthRise
database. EarthRise is a database of photos of Earth taken by astronauts in the space shuttle.
Each image has metadata and many of the images have detailed captions. The students
received handouts and a National Geographic map to assist them with their
identification of the faults. The assignment was to identify and label
the faults. Most of the students were able to investigate the following
faults: Point Reyes (San Andreas and Hayward Faults), California; Dead
Sea Fault, Israel and Jordan; Atacama Desert Fault, Chile; and the
Nayband Fault, Kerman, Iran.
Lesson Plan
Activity Sheets
Downloadable TIFF images
OPMS implementation
Activity 8: What Exactly Do Plate Tectonics
Have to Do with Earthquakes?
In this activity, students investigated the three types of plate boundaries
(convergent, divergent, and transform) and the types of faults (thrust,
normal, and strike-slip) normally associated with each boundary.
Students worked with shuttle
images of the Earth, National Geographic world maps, 11"x17" copies of
tectonic maps, and worksheets. A demonstration on the "handedness"
of lateral faults was necessary.
Lesson Plan
Activity Sheets
OPMS implementation
Activity 9: Understanding Sea-floor Spreading
Using the Program, Sea Floor-Spreading
The students were introduced to the program, Sea Floor-Spreading, in
order to visualize divergent margins. Students used the program to recreate sea-floor spreading and the pattern of magnetic stripes that are
created by different configurations of plate boundaries. They saw how
transform faults at mid-oceanic ridges function.
Lesson Plan
Activity Sheets
OPMS implementation
Activity 10: Studying Recent Earthquakes Using
ESRI's "Live Earthquake Maps"
The students used ESRI's
"live earthquake maps" site to access near real
time seismic data from a simple graphic interface. They worked with the various data to understand
what earthquakes are currently happening on the Earth and why.
The students created
maps of areas that interested them. Each time they created a map, the
pertinent earthquake data for that region was listed at the bottom of
the image. The students were especially interested in the earthquake
swarms occurring near Mammoth Mountain, California.
Lesson Plan
Activity Sheets
OPMS implementation
 To page 3 of 3
| 