This unit offers an alternative application for high-resolution topographic data from an outcrop. Using engineering geology methods and data collection from TLS and/or SfM, students design safe "road cuts" with low probability of failure for a proposed fictitious roadway along the side of a hill. Cut slopes or "road cuts" are constructed slopes along roadways in mountainous regions. The design of such slopes requires a safe slope angle, rockfall catchment ditch, and drainage provision. The decision of the slope angle is based on kinematic analysis for slope failures due to the orientation of discontinuities (bedding planes, joints, etc.) with respect to that of the proposed slope. Traditionally, discontinuity orientation data are collected from measurements directly on the outcrop. This can be dangerous and the accessible sites may not be fully representative of the cut as a whole. Remote methods such as TLS and SfM generate 3D models from which discontinuity data can be collected safely. In this unit students learn the workflow for designing safe cut slopes using discontinuity data collected from direct field observations and TLS or SfM and compare the methods and results.

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Kinematic GNSS surveys can provide a rapid means of collecting widely distributed, high-precision topographic data. The advantages of this technique over optical instruments such as a total station are that it only requires one person to operate and it does not rely on maintaining a direct line of site. Once points are collected, students will learn to interpolate them using ArcMap to create a continuous model of elevations. Students must think carefully about where they collect their points and evaluate the merits of different interpolation techniques including TIN and Kriging. Through a field-based application of kinematic GNSS, students will design and conduct a topographic survey and interpolate collected points to create a continuous elevation field. This builds upon skills learned in Unit 2 and prepares students for future techniques such as surface differencing and topographic change detection (Unit 2.2).

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Note: Although the term GPS (Global Positioning System) is more commonly used in everyday language, it officially refers only to the USA's constellation of satellites. GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is a universal term that refers to all satellite navigation systems including those from the USA (GPS), Russia (GLONASS), European Union (Galileo), China (BeiDou), and others. In this module, we use the term GNSS to refer generically to the use of one or more satellite constellations to determine position.

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Students will learn about geoscience-specific methods used to analyze data in the Critical Zone from data-driven activities and short presentations by their peers. The topics include the use of carbon isotopes, rock and soil profile weathering rates, stream discharge, demographics, and soil carbon. Activities will build data analysis and communication skills while using real data to interpret Critical Zone processes and begin to think about human interactions in the Critical Zone. Students will use geoscience-specific methods when developing their research proposal for the summative assessment activity.

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Though it may be difficult to perceive, landscapes are constantly changing form and position. High-precision GNSS is one of a handful of techniques capable of quantifying these changes and is a key component of many modern geologic, biologic, and engineering studies. In this unit, students will learn how to approach a study in change detection in the context of a geomorphic or structural problem, then design and implement a GNSS survey that effectively explores the problem. Through field-based application of kinematic GNSS techniques, students will design, execute, and analyze data from a survey to detect change. Students design the survey based on a question of scientific or societal impetus and are asked to defend their design and implementation. This is the final unit focused on kinematic GNSS and is aimed at solidifying students knowledge and technical skill in this technique.

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Note: Although the term GPS (Global Positioning System) is more commonly used in everyday language, it officially refers only to the USA's constellation of satellites. GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is a universal term that refers to all satellite navigation systems including those from the USA (GPS), Russia (GLONASS), European Union (Galileo), China (BeiDou), and others. In this module, we use the term GNSS to refer generically to the use of one or more satellite constellations to determine position.

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In Unit 2, students apply and evaluate foundational concepts about storm hazards and risk in the context of two cases studies: Superstorm Sandy (2012) and the Storm of the Century (1993). Through different activities and assignments, students develop skills for finding, evaluating, and relating data to case studies and build an understanding of preparedness, response, and resilience. The activities include: an analysis of hazard mitigation plans for their local community, examination of storm-related geophysical processes in the context of societal risks, preparation of a press release for community preparedness, and a peer review and revision opportunity for the press releases. Instructors may also end this unit by having students revise their concept maps from Unit 1, applying lessons learned in Units 1 and 2.

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During Unit 2, students will learn about the causes of two past mass extinctions and discuss the controversies surrounding these causes and the evidence upon which the theories in the debates are based. Before class, students will be assigned to read one of a set of different articles about theories for the causes of the end-Cretaceous and the end-Permian mass extinction. During class, students will get in groups with others who read different articles to pool their knowledge about flood-basalt eruptions and catastrophic asteroid impacts. They will re-group to compare and contrast the two proposed causes of the end-Permian and end-Cretaceous mass extinctions and the mass extinctions themselves.

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This unit provides students with experience analyzing traditional (depth to water table measured in a well) and geodetic: GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) data for monitoring changes in groundwater storage in the High Plains Aquifer. Variations across timescales are compared, from seasonal to interannual to decadal. This comparison highlights some of the challenges associated with quantifying changes in groundwater storage at the regional scale. Aquifer properties are used to consider changes in terms of both "depth to water table" and water storage. Students are asked to formulate explanations for the observed variations in the context of the water balance equation. Students compare their results to a multidecadal trend reported in the literature (Konikow, 2011).

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Online-ready: The exercise is electronic and could be done individually or in small online groups. Lecture is best done synchronously due to the technical nature. Discussion would be better that way too.

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The introduction and examination of the food, energy, and water connection -- as a system in Unit 1 -- established the dictates of human dependency on and human modification of the environment. We continue a logical progression of what this means in Unit 2, with a focus on how people see, confront, and solve their resource challenges in the light of their need for affordable, accessible, healthy, sustainably-grown food. This unit introduces and explores the concepts, themes, and practices of: urban agriculture, urban farming, local food, food insecurity, food deserts, health & wellness education, community food gardens, community food dialogue, public policy, civic engagement, volunteerism, expert technical assistance, land reclamation, grants and incentives, entrepreneurship, and community economic development.

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GPS data can measure bedrock motion in response to deformation of the ground near plate boundaries because of plate tectonics. In this module, students will learn how to read GPS data to interpret how the bedrock deforms and moves, both absolutely and relatively, near the plate boundary in California and how that results in earthquakes. They will then apply the skills they developed and knowledge they gained to demonstrate their understanding of how GPS data has implications for future earthquakes in the region.

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Online-ready: All exercises are electronic and could be done individually or in small online groups. Lecture as currently provided is best done in synchronous format to retain interactive components. Authors provide a shortened version of Activities 1-3 combined into a single file used in their online courses. See below Condensed version for online.

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This unit investigates the role of the atmosphere on incoming solar and outgoing terrestrial radiation and analyzes modern trends in greenhouse gas concentrations. Students first investigate radiation spectra to see how the atmosphere absorbs radiation in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. This information is used to develop the idea of greenhouse warming. Students then use the atmospheric CO2 dataset from Mauna Loa to investigate changes in atmospheric CO2 through time, and the drivers behind these changes. Follow-up questions ask students to consider how their own daily activities contribute to atmospheric CO2, and how rising CO2 may trigger potential feedbacks in the Earth system.

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What factors contribute to the distribution patterns of mass wasting events? In this unit, students will use a frequency-ratio method, one of the most common quantitative methods used in the statistical analysis of landslides, to explore the relationship between geospatial factors/parameters and the distribution of landslide events. Towards this goal, students will categorize geospatial factors (e.g. - elevation, slope, aspect, bedrock geology, mean annual precipitation, etc.) and calculate landslide susceptibility index (LSI) values for each category. The LSI is based on the frequency of landslides and areal extent of each category and can be used to quantitatively estimate the relationship between the spatial distribution of landslides and each geospatial factor explored. This unit uses ArcMap software.

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Online-ready: The exercise is electronic and could be done individually or in small online groups. Lecture is designed to be interactive and really needs to be done synchronously. Discussion would be better that way too.

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This unit introduces students to the statistical concepts that are used to determine the relationships between peak flow magnitude, return periods, and societal risk. The intent is that when a student hears or uses the term "100-year flood," they understand how it is obtained. The vocabulary and techniques of flood frequency analysis (FFA) are introduced through demonstrations. In a formative assessment exercise, students will use concepts learned in demonstrations to conduct an FFA in a new river.

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In this unit, students examine the interaction between the hydrologic cycle and rock cycle through exploring the processes of weathering, erosion, transport and deposition of sediments both in real stream systems and in a physical, table-top model of a stream. This activity focuses group thinking on: 1) identification and interpretation of patterns that define physical characteristics associated with three distinct areas of a river system and 2) the type of energy transfers that occur as sediments are eroded, transported and deposited.

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Geodetic survey techniques, such as TLS and SfM featured here, have many applications in sedimentology research, including lithological identification and analysis, sediment surface topography, and sequence stratigraphy. In this unit, students will design a survey of a geologic outcrop to conduct a sequence stratigraphy analysis. After conducting the survey in the field, students will analyze the parasequences found within the outcrop by mapping and measuring section thickness in the point cloud. The goal is to calculate deposition duration and sedimentation rate based on thicknesses extracted from the data.

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What is the contribution of seawater thermal expansion to recent sea-level rise? In this unit, students create time-series graphs of global averaged sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) data spanning 1880 -- 2017 and conduct linear trend analysis to assess SST change during this period. Based on the calculated SST change, students calculate how much sea-level rise occurred during 1993 -- 2015 due to thermal expansion of the oceans. Students compare their thermal expansion calculated sea-level rise results to observed sea-level rise from radar altimetry and assess how much sea-level rise is attributable to thermal expansion.

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Online-ready: The exercise is electronic and could be done individually or in small online groups. Lecture is best done synchronously due to the technical nature. Discussion would be better that way too.

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Hurricanes form as the atmosphere and ocean interact to transport a tremendous amount of energy. Students will read about the conditions necessary for hurricane formation, how a hurricane evolves at sea, how it gains or loses speed, and the characteristics of a hurricane making landfall. Students will also use data to predict hurricane formation and to make recommendations, in the face of uncertain data, for a ship in the potential path of a hurricane at sea.

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Can active faults be identified remotely, based upon their appearance in the landscape? How can the geomorphic features associated with active faults be used to classify and quantify fault movement? In this unit, students will analyze lidar data and remote sensing imagery, with the aim of discovering how different styles and timescales of faulting are recorded in the landscape. Concepts pertinent to earthquake hazard and infrastructure risk -- such as average slip per event, earthquake recurrence, and fault slip rate -- will be investigated.

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Online-ready: The exercise is electronic and could be done individually or in small online groups (using the Google Earth rather than printable files). Lecture can be done in synchronous or asynchronous online format.

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How do volcanologists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitor volcanoes? In a jigsaw format, students first work in teams to learn one of the four volcano monitoring data sets (GPS, Tilt, Seismic and InSAR) and then move to mixed groups acting as USGS scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory to share their data set, learn from their teammates how to interpret the other data sets, and develop a forecast for an eruption of Pu'u O'o at Kilauea volcano.

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Note: Although the term GPS (Global Positioning System) is more commonly used in everyday language, it officially refers only to the USA's constellation of satellites. GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is a universal term that refers to all satellite navigation systems including those from the USA (GPS), Russia (GLONASS), European Union (Galileo), China (BeiDou), and others. In this module, we use the term GPS even though, technically, some of the data may be coming from satellites in other systems.

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Online-adaptable: This unit would take a bit more effort to move to online but if one is teaching synchronously it could still be done with interactive online lecture/discussions. The exercise could be modified away from the jigsaw format OR the jigsaw component can be successfully done online with some preparation. To do the exercise as a jigsaw, students will need to be arranged into two different breakout groupings as the lesson progresses.

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The application of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) in the earth sciences has become commonplace. GNSS data can be collected rapidly and compared in common reference frames. Real-time kinematic (RTK) GNSS methods enable the rapid delivery of high-precision, high-accuracy (+/- 2 cm) positioning information to field scientists. This unit focuses on the design and execution of kinematic surveys, emphasizing the benefits and limitations of the technique. Students will learn which research questions the technique is most applicable for, as well as the standard data processing techniques. Students advance their understanding of GNSS through a technical knowledge of kinematic GNSS surveys. This unit prepares students to design and implement a survey of their own through hands-on instruction and demonstration of real-time kinematic (RTK) or post-processed kinematic (PPK) techniques in a field setting.

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Note: Although the term GPS (Global Positioning System) is more commonly used in everyday language, it officially refers only to the USA's constellation of satellites. GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is a universal term that refers to all satellite navigation systems including those from the USA (GPS), Russia (GLONASS), European Union (Galileo), China (BeiDou), and others. In this module, we use the term GNSS to refer generically to the use of one or more satellite constellations to determine position.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

In this unit, students work in small groups to examine and analyze spatial data relevant to soils to identify patterns. They use their analyses to add detail to their Earth systems concept maps and describe how these data are relevant to interdisciplinary societal issues.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)