The assignment will begin with teaching proper water collection and use of equipment for hydrochemical field work. Once the class is familiar with sample collecting technques, the class takes a field trip to several springs within the Madera Limestone, Sandia Mountains New Mexico. Collecting waters and obtaining hydrochemical field parameters for each spring location as well as collecting groundwater from one well in the same aquifer. Returning to the lab and preparing and running samples for ion analysis.

Spring waters will then be compared to well water and average precipitation data available from the USGS. Geochemical modeling will then be completed to understand the proportion of aquifer, precipitation and possible deeply sourced waters found in the spring waters.

The outcomes include 1) teaching proper sampling techniques 2) proper preparation of samples for ion analysis 3) Geochemical modeling to understand mixing

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Students construct a geologic map of a region of Venus' surface using NASA Magellan synthetic aperture radar(SAR) data (provided) and/or synthetic stereo data (provided, and constructed using Magellan SAR and altimetry data)- 3D anaglyph viewed through red-blue glasses. Mapping can be done digitally using Adobe Illustrator (or a similar graphic program) or using hard copy images and overhead transparencies for mapping. Students construct a complete geologic map, determine a geologic history for the area, and propose hypotheses for the evolution of a large quasi-circular geomorphic/geologic feature that occurs within the map area. Students also propose tests of their hypotheses (whether such tests can be accomplished through further mapping, future missions, experiments, theoretical arguments, calculations, etc.). Students must clearly identify assumptions they make in their hypotheses/models. Individual, or small group, write-ups and completed geologic maps summarize student analysis. This activity connects structural geology to other fields, and provides the students with an opportunity to experience geologic investigation in which there is no single right answer, but there are "wrong" or unlikely hypotheses. This exercise helps students think outside the box with little fear given that they are dealing with - literally - an extraterrestrial world in which very little is known - and yet, we assume that chemistry and physics, as we know them, likely operated on Earth's sister planet. Students are given a short introductory presentation about the environmental conditions of Venus (which could have been different in the past), and an introduction to radar data before they begin.

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This is an anonymous electronic peer review exercise that utilizes a dropbox, where students detail and support their viewpoint on nonhuman-induced global warming.

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This GIS lab exercise investigates the use of the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension tools to construct a viewshed of the Chaco Canyon area in New Mexico. Students will build a simple point location map of several ruins in Chaco Canyon. Assuming that some of the cliff-top ruins were used as lookout towers, viewshed analysis is applied to see if this was possible.

This is a take-home exercise for junior or senior-level students in a Sedimentation/Stratigraphy course. It may be used to bridge topics of geomorphology, depositional environments and clastic sedimentology.
The exercise focuses on visualizing journal article data in a meaningful way. In addition to defining technical terms, students are asked to use background knowledge of Walther's Law to complete a series of vertical sections. Approximate time to complete the exercise is 4-5 hours. Individual assignment (as opposed to group work) is recommended.

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Learners use graphs of GPS position data to determine how the shape of Westdahl Volcano, Alaska is changing. If the flanks of a volcano swell or recede, it is a potential indication of magma movement and changing pressures below ground. GPS can measure changes as little as a couple millimeters per year. Learners are asked to decide if the measured motions are enough to issue a warning of immediate danger.

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NGSS ALIGNMENT
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Earth' Systems: MS-ESS2-1, MS-ESS2-2, HS-ESS2-1
Earth and Human Activity: MS-ESS3-2, HS-ESS3-1
Science and Engineering Practices
4. Analyzing and Interpreting Data
5. Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
6. Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Crosscutting Concepts
2. Cause and Effect
4. Systems and System Models
7. Stability and Change��

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Students write an original work of fiction that includes aspects of the eruptive behavior of stratovolcanoes and the types of hazards that accompany stratovolcano eruptions. These aspects may appear as plot elements, or setting, or in some other fashion. Students must include background information other than their textbooks and must include references.

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Warm-ups are questions I assign on the reading. Students read the text, do the questions, and turn one copy of the answers at the beginning of every class. They also keep one copy. The questions range from very objective to extremely subjective, but I generally keep them more concrete and less speculative. In class, we will go over the answers at the point in the lecture they best apply. They make corrections (if needed) as we discuss the questions in class. At that point, I'm also very explicit about what a good answer entails and we even discuss how I might ask this on an exam. As the exam comes up, they know what questions are most important, because we've covered them in the warm-ups. If there was information that I could not cover in a warm-up but could only provide in lecture, I will point that out. In brief, Warm-ups help to accomplish the following things:

They help get students to read before class,

They provide another source of points based on rewarding them for
what they should already be doing,

They are the main source of exam questions,

They indicate to students what is most important to learn,

They provide students a format for assembling information and practicing answers for questions that will be on the exam, and

They help break my lecture into shorter segments interspersed with student interaction and feedback.

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Before this activity the students will have heard about groundwater and water resources through lecture to give them a background on where our drinking water comes from. The activity involves a tour of the local wastewater treatment plant where the students told about the treatment processes and shown the treatment facility. They are also introduced to the water quality testing done at the plans and they learn about the energy usage/management at the plant. As part of the activity they write up a paper on the processes in the treatment process from the time water enters the plant until it exits. The students are encouraged before hand to ask questions to ensure that they gather the needed information. This always means that each tour has a slightly different content based on these questions.

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This is a seven part module that deals with water development. The goal is to get students thinking about water development in terms of its appropriateness, and to get them to think about competing value systems. It is ultimately about ethics and philosophy,not about practicality or utility, but students -- especially undergraduate students -- sometimes have trouble figuring that out. If you you elect to use all seven modules, this is a multi-week project. But, individual parts will stand alone if need be.

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This take-home final exam asks students to demonstrate their improved skills in searching for sources (information literacy) and writing on freshwater science/society/policy intersections (science literacy), and author an essay themed on Water Optimism.

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This exercise provides a basic introduction to volcanic hazards. Students learn about different types of volcanic hazards through researching examples from Alaskan eruptions. They also group the hazards as proximal and distal to consider how emergency response plans might differ. A recording of the KLM flight 867 flight that lost power to all four engines when it flew into an ash cloud from a 1989 Mt Redoubt eruption provides a compelling example of risk from volcanoes. (Note: the plane was ultimately able to regain enough power to land safely in Anchorage.) Students learn about the Volcano Hazards Alert-Notification System for both ground-based and aviation applications.

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I gave this assignment so that students could relate real-time weather changes to mid-latitude cyclones and air mass movement. Basically, by the time I assigned the project, we have discussed all the necessary weather phenomena and this project gives the students a way to apply what we have discussed to "reality" by explaining why the weather occurred the way it did over a short time period. It also provides me with a way to assess how well they are able to tie all the major concepts together, which is one of the goals of the course.

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The identification of clay mineral assemblages in soils provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate how basic principles of petrology and geochemistry are applied to engineering design criteria in construction site preparation. Specifically, the problem investigates the conditions leading to the formation of smectite in soils and the resulting construction risk due to soil expansion. Students examine soils developed on igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks near Denver, Colorado. The field locations are areas of suburban growth and several have expansive soil problems. The 2-week exercise includes sample collection, description, and preparation, determining clay mineralogy by XRD, and measurement of Atterberg Plasticity Indices. This problem develops skills in X-ray diffraction analysis as applied to clay mineralogy, reinforces leacture material on the geochemistry of weathering, and demonstrates the role of petrologic characterization in site engineering.

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This course will introduce fundamental concepts of geographic information science (GIScience), including geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), cartography, remote sensing, and spatial statistics. Advanced geospatial application tools, such as Google Earth, Google Map, iPhone Applications, and the National Geographic Map Machine will be used to demonstrate these concepts. Students will learn how to use these geospatial technologies and tools in addressing human and environmental problems. Students will learn how to organize geospatial data, visualize spatial patterns, and conduct basic spatial query and map overlay functions.

About once a week, which approximately corresponds to each chapter covered, students are required to write a 2-3 paragraph reflection on the material covered in class. They may use information found in the book, or their experiences during lecture and lab, but they need to discuss their thoughts on the material. This written assignment encourages students to think more deeply about the material discussed, as well as to become more comfortable with the writing process.

Students read one of two articles (the "cases") from High Country News, a bi-weekly periodical that covers environmental issues in the western North America. Both articles are about situations in which the use of ground water by irrigators has decreased the amount of surface water available for users with senior water rights. I divide the class into groups representing 1) surface water users, 2) ground water users, and 3) a regulatory board. The groups read and discuss each article and prepare a case to present to the regulatory board. After each group has prepared their case, we gather for a hearing, where groups of consultants present their cases and are questioned by the regulatory board. At the end, the regulatory board makes "decisions" on each "case". The decision isn't the focus of the exercise. The most valuable part is the subsequent discussion about the cases and the common issues in them that get the students to recognize the connection between surface and ground water and how humans have come up with confusing and sometimes scientifically conflicting sets of laws to regulate each.

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Students have learned throughout the course how paleontologists make interpretations about fossils. As we covered the various dinosaur groups we covered what interpretations have been made about their growth rates, eating habits, speeds, and etc. There is also a discussion of how paleontologists have made these interpretations. This activity is associated with the Taphonomy chapter and allows students to use the tools that they have acquired throughout the course to make interpretation about a modern animal and an extinct animal. Each student receives a packet of information on a modern animal and an extinct animal. This packet includes various pictures of the skeleton, foot prints, teeth, skull, and etc. To complete the assignment each student must synthesize the knowledge they learned throughout the course and make supported conclusions about each animal. They also must complete a write up of the locality of the extinct animal and what is known about the paleoecology.

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This short (15-25 min) writing activity asks students to respond to a series of prompts related to the content knowledge and societal issues explored in the "What's in the Water?" PFAS Contamination Unit". Students complete the activity twice- once before the start of the 7-lesson unit, and again at the end, to track their learning.

Students selected one of six stratigraphic units that nominally could contribute quartzite clasts to a Tertiary conglomerate in southern Nevada. They read Goetze and Lewis's (1994) paper on using trace element geochemistry on quartz sands then performed a literature search related to their unit and read relevant papers related to their unit. Students collected samples from their stratigraphic unit and prepared them for microprobe analysis. They reduced the data from their samples and then analyzed the data as a combined set to determine if their units geochemical signature was unique compared to other units. They then statistically compared their unit to the clasts of unknown origin from the Tertiary conglomerate. This project gave the students experience in finding conducting a literature search, collecting and preparing samples for analyses, manipulating data within Excel, comparing data statistically, explaining their data to other students int he class, and preparing talks and a poster.

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