The internet is full of false information and ads. Sometimes it can be challenging to decipher the validity of content. It is important to learn how to critically evaluate online material for several reasons: you want to know what type of information is trustworthy online, you want to be an informed digital citizen, and you want to ensure that the information that you are using for a school assignment is factual. The purpose of “Two Truths and a Lie Online” is to teach you how to critically evaluate online resources so that you can be both an informed consumer and producer of digital content.

GPS data can measure vertical and horizontal bedrock motion caused by a variety of geologic processes, such as plate movement and the changing amount of water and ice on Earth's surface. In this unit, students will learn the basics of how GPS works and how to read GPS time-series data.

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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: Main exercise is a jigsawactivity that can be successfully done in an online course; but it does take a bit of extra effort to arrange the students into two different sets of online groups with online collaboration. This will probably be more success in a synchronous format.
OR the unit could be adapted away from the jigsaw format and presented as single exercise done individually or in static small groups.

(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 opening unit, students develop the societal context for understanding earthquake hazards using as a case study the 2011 Tohoku, Japan, earthquake. It starts with a short homework "scavenger hunt" in which students find a compelling video and information about the earthquake. In class, they share some of what they have found and then engage in a series of think-pair-share exercises to investigate both the societal and scientific data about the earthquake.

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Online-ready: This opening class discussion about earthquakes and societal impacts could easily be converted to an online discussion format.

(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.)

How does water move throughout the Earth system? How do scientists measure the amount of water that moves through these pathways? This unit provides an alternative way for students to learn the major components of Earth's water cycle, which includes actively thinking about how we measure the water system. In this unit, students annotate a schematic diagram to identify the major reservoirs and fluxes in the hydrosphere. They also work in teams of different "experts" to identify traditional and geodetic techniques that are used to measure components of the hydrosphere and the changes over time. Using their recently acquired knowledge about these techniques, they make inferences about which methods are best for measuring different components of the hydrosphere. Measurement methods include stream gauges, groundwater wells, snow pillows, vertical GPS changes, reflection GPS for snow depth, and GRACE satellite (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment).

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Online-adaptable: Main exercise is a jigsawactivity that could be done in an online course but student groups with online collaboration (probably synchronous) would need to be organized OR the exercise would need to be adapted away from group format.

(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.)

How are rising sea levels already influencing the developing nation of Bangladesh, and what are the anticipated consequences of additional sea level rise in the next century? This introduction to the Ice and Sea Level Changes module is designed to prompt student consideration of the economic, social, political, and health impacts of sea level change. They will revisit the impacts of sea level change on society in Unit 5 when they investigate implications for New York City and Southern California.

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Online-ready: This opening class discussion about climate change and societal impacts could be converted to an online discussion format.

(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.)

How have mass-wasting events affected communities, and what lessons have we learned from these natural disasters that might help us mitigate future hazards? In this unit, students answer these questions by being introduced to the landscape and societal characteristics that contributed to loss of property and life during the 1970 Nevado Huascar��n (Peru) and 2010 San Fratello (Sicily, Italy) events.

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Online-ready: This opening class discussion about landslides and societal impacts could easily be converted to an online discussion format.

(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.)

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.

(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.)

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.

(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.)

Students gain an intuitive understanding of strain and deformation through a series of physical model activities using everyday materials such as bungee cords, rubber bands, fabric, index cards, silly putty, sand, and more. Can be run to fill an entire lab session exploring multiple materials or as a shorter exercise using just rubber bands and stretchy fabric. An addendum provides mathematical content (vectors, matrices, multidimensional strain) that can be used by instructors interested in building student quantitative skills.

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Not online recommended: Exercise uses variety of physical models that would be hard to duplicate at home. The first part of the "basic" version of the exercise (as opposed to "extended") does use rubber bands and could potentially be done remotely.

(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 Unit 2, students learn how the techniques for water budgeting (covered in Unit 1) can be used to monitor both groundwater (High Plains Aquifer) and surface water (western mountain watershed) systems. Students interpret time-series plots that show the impact of drought years and wet years on underground water storage in the High Plains Aquifer and on snowpack and surface runoff in the western mountain watershed. They also consider the societal implications of water deficits through a series of pre-class readings, questions embedded in the assignments, and small and whole-group discussions. This unit can involve substantial computer time during which students use Excel to view and interpret hydrologic data. An alternative version with hard-copy graphs is also provided.

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Online-adaptable: Both parts of this unit are completely digital and thus at a logistical level it can be switched to online fairly easily. However, due to the relative complexity of the data investigations, there will still be quite a bit of instructor support needed and/or extended small group that should be arranged.

(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.)

How do geologic, hydrologic, biologic, and built-landscape features manifest themselves on maps? In this unit, students will use topographic maps, hillshade maps, and aerial imagery to learn to recognize a variety of landscape features and subsequently identify as many of these features as they can on a map of a new study area. They will also construct a topographic profile from their map data and use their profiles to understand the concepts of slope, aspect, and relief and how these landscape characteristics are important in hazard assessment and land-use planning.

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Online-adaptable: Part 1 (lecture) and Part 3 (individual or small-group exercise) are particularly straight forward to adapt to online. The landscape scavenger hunt exercise, Part 2, is typically done with printed maps but can be successfully adapted to online by having synchronous groups of students work together to annotate digital map files using: 1) PDF annotation tools in Adobe or 2) putting the map images into a Google Slides file and using the scribble tool. Google Earth files are also provided as an additional option.

(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.)

This unit applies a flipped classroom model. Students complete a self-study tutorial prior to attending class. Students are then asked work independently or in pairs to generate a time-aware climate change Web map application using ArcGIS Online. Returning to the theme of cocoa production introduced in Unit 1, students identify climatic conditions conducive for cacao production around the world, especially West Africa where the majority of cacao is grown. Students then use a web application in ArcGIS Online to create a time aware map showing biomes in the KÃppen Climate Classification System and determine how projected climate changes will impact the suitable production regions for cacao in West Africa. Using a jigsaw model, students collect into groups of 4, with a representative from each of the IPCC scenarios, and they compare the the impact of the 4 scenarios in specified cocoa production regions. At the end of the class they will be assigned to one of three regional areas for group work in Units 4-6.

(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.)

This unit provides essential background information on GPS (global positioning system) and reference frames. Students learn how to access GPS location and velocity data from the Network of the Americas (NOTA). They calculate total horizontal motion graphically and mathematically and tie the observed motions to local strain.

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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-ready: The exercise is electronic (including accessing an online data portal) and could be done individually or in small online groups. Lecture can be done in synchronous or asynchronous online format.

(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.)

GPS data can measure bedrock elevation change in response to the changing mass of glaciers. In this module, students will learn how to read GPS data to interpret how the mass of glaciers in Alaska and Greenland is changing, both annually and long-term. They will then apply the skills they developed and knowledge they gained to demonstrate their understanding of how their GPS data about glacial change has implications for sea level rise.

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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.

(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.)

The purpose of this unit is to learn some of the scientific tools used to determine hurricane location, path, and strength. Students plot the path of a recent hurricane (Irene, 2011), work with an online viewer to learn the typical tracks hurricanes follow, and use a measure of hurricane energy to compare individual hurricanes and yearly totals. In Activity 3.1, on a standard National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlantic Hurricane Map, students gain experience in plotting a hurricane track and in basic mapping skills. In Activity 3.2, students work with an online viewer to learn about the typical paths and landfall patterns of Atlantic hurricanes. Students compare the locations, paths, and variation of hurricane tracks from a century-scale record. In Activity 3.3, students use the Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) index as a way of measuring hurricane season totals and consider the policy implications of a predicted above-normal hurricane year. Note: computer lab with Internet access (or student laptops in the lecture/lab room) required for Activity 3.2.

(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.)

How do slope characteristics and magnitude of forces dictate whether or not a slope will fail? Can environmental and built characteristics change the magnitude of these forces? In this unit, students qualitatively and quantitatively consider the impact of slope angle, driving force, and frictional force on mass-wasting potential. A map activity prompts students to think about how climatic, tectonic, and geologic factors, as well as population and land use characteristics can influence mass-wasting potential.

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Online-adaptable: Part 1 (lecture) and Part 3 (discussion) are particularly straight forward to adapt to online. Part 2 student exercise is typically done with printed maps but can be successfully adapted to online by having synchronous groups of students work together to annotate digital map files using: 1) PDF annotation tools in Adobe or 2) putting the map images into a Google Slides file and using the scribble tool. Google Earth files are also provided as an additional option.

(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.)

How are recent air temperature trends influencing Greenland's ice mass? Are ice mass changes in Greenland spatially and temporally uniform? In this unit, students use atmospheric and geodetic data (GRACE, InSAR, altimetry) to investigate the location, magnitude, and causes of ice mass changes in Greenland.

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Online-adaptable:Main exercise is a jigsaw activity that can be successfully done in an online course; but it does take a bit of extra effort to arrange the students into two different sets of online groups with online collaboration. This will probably be more success in a synchronous format.
OR the unit could be adapted away from the jigsaw format with Parts 2 and 3 below combined into a single exercise done individually or in static small groups.

(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.)

Landslides can have profound societal consequences, such as did the slide that occurred near Oso, Washington in 2014. Forty-three people were killed and entire rural neighborhood was destroyed. In this unit, students consider the larger-scale tectonic and climatic setting for the landslide and subsequently use lidar and SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) hillshade images, topographic maps, and InSAR (interferometric synthetic aperture radar) to determine relationships between landscape characteristics and different types of mass-wasting events. They conclude by considering the societal costs of such a disaster and ways that communities in similar situations may mitigate their risk.

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Online-adaptable: The exercises in unit are completely digital and thus at a logistical level it can be switched to online fairly easily. However, due to the relative complexity of the data investigations and group discussions, there will still be a fair bit of instructor support needed and/or extended small group that should be arranged.

(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.)

How much and how quickly does Earth's surface respond to changes in a glacier's mass? How can geodesy help scientists understand the relationship between ice mass change and changes in the bedrock surface? How are these processes related to regional sea level changes? In this unit, students use visualizations, bedrock GPS (Global Positioning System), and ice elevation data from Greenland's Helheim Glacier to investigate the concept of post-glacial rebound and the relative contributions of rebound and ice melting to regional sea level changes in Greenland.

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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: The lecture and main data analysis exercise can easily be moved online. The final piece is a discussion or [linkhttps://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/gallerywalk/index.html 'gallery walk'] which can also be successfully done online but may take a little more preparation. For instance, in the case of the gallery walk, the images and questions can be available for online viewing with space available for student comments. Online groups then rotate through the stations virtually.

(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.)

Students work with GPS velocity data from three stations in the same region that form an acute triangle. By investigating how the ellipse inscribed within this triangle deforms, students learn about strain, strain ellipses, GPS, and how to tie these to regional geology and ongoing hazards. This unit contains the primary infinitesimal strain analysis for the module. After the instructor demonstrates the method using data from Japan, students investigate three different GPS station triangles in three difference tectonic regimes: convergent (U.S. Pacific Northwest), extensional (Wasatch fault, Utah), and strike-slip (San Andreas Fault, California).

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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-ready: The exercise is electronic (including accessing an online data portal) and could be done individually or in small online groups. Lecture can be done in synchronous or asynchronous online format.

(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.)