Exploring California's Plate Motion and Deformation with GPS | Lessons on Plate Tectonics part of Geodesy:Activities
Shelley Olds, EarthScope Consortium
Students analyze data to study the motion of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. From GPS data, students detect relative motion between the plates in the San Andreas fault zone--with and without earthquakes. To get to that discovery, they use physical models to understand the architecture of GPS, from satellites to sensitive stations on the ground. They learn to interpret time series data collected by stations (in the spreading regime of Iceland), to cast data as horizontal north-south and east-west vectors, and to add those vectors head-to-tail.Students then apply their skills and understanding to data in the context of the strike-slip fault zone of a transform plate boundary. They interpret time series plots from an earthquake in Parkfield, CA to calculate the resulting slip on the fault and (optionally) the earthquake's magnitude.

8. Efficiency and Conservation part of Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability
Maurice Crawford, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore
Household energy use accounts for a significant portion of the nation's energy use; therefore, an important aspect of energy conservation is having buildings that are energy efficient. In this activity, ...

Unit 1: The Food-Energy-Water Connection part of Food as the Foundation for Healthy Communities
Richard D. Schulterbrandt Gragg III, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University; John Warford, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University; Cynthia Hewitt, Morehouse College; Akin Akinyemi, Florida State University; Cheryl Young, Heritage University
This unit is designed to function as three days of instruction in an introductory urban planning, environmental science/studies or public health course.

9. Hybrid and Electric Cars part of Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability
Randolph Chambers, College of William and Mary
This module reviews the history of the automobile and its varied power sources, culminating in the latest versions of hybrid and electric cars.

5. Passive Designs part of Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability
Randolph Chambers, College of William and Mary
In this module, we consider how the actual design and placement of buildings can be important considerations for energy efficiency, thereby optimizing winter heating and summer cooling needs. One of the simplest ...

6. Energy from and to the Earth part of Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability
Randolph Chambers, College of William and Mary
This module compares the spatial availability of geothermal resources for heating and cooling and evaluates different ground exchange systems for practical application. The operation of enhanced geothermal systems ...

7. Better Ways to Illuminate part of Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability
Maurice Crawford, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore
In this module, students compare three types of lamps that are used for lighting: incandescent, compact fluorescent (CFL) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Students collect data on the amount of heat and light ...

Igneous Rocks and Triangle Diagrams part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Eileen Herrstrom, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
This activity takes place in a laboratory setting and requires ~1.5-2 hours to complete. Students observe igneous rock compositions and plot them on triangle diagrams, normalize rock compositions using a ...

Reasons for the Seasons part of GEODE:GEODE Teaching Resources
Declan De Paor, Old Dominion University; Steve Whitmeyer, James Madison University
Reasons for the seasons (RFTS for short) is an interactive learning resource that leverages the popular Google Earth virtual globe. It is designed to help students and members of the public visualize and understand ...

Unit 6: Hydrologic Balance and Climate Change part of Modeling Earth Systems
Kirsten Menking, Vassar College
In this unit, students create a STELLA model of the Owens River chain of lakes in eastern California and then experiment with different climate change scenarios to simulate the Pleistocene history of lake filling ...