Focuses on sites on the World Wide Web that offer information about volcanoes. Web sites are classified into areas of Global Volcano Information, Volcanoes in Hawaii, Volcanoes in Alaska, Volcanoes in the Cascades, European and Icelandic Volcanoes, Extraterrestrial Volcanism, Volcanic Ash and Weather, and Volcano Resource Directories. Suggestions…

Explores the origins of the myth expressed in many early geology textbooks that clay and shale are impervious to water. Misconceptions about the effects of molecular attraction on groundwater appear to have arisen from errant interpretations of correct physicochemical concepts. (PVD)

Project ESTEEM (Earth Science Teachers Exploring Exemplary Materials) is designed to improve earth science teaching by providing materials and personnel to reverse the decline in activity-based instruction. During an intense summer program, precollege teachers examine and present activities for earth-science courses. These materials are assembled…

Measurement of the compositions and temperatures of H2O-NaCl brines in equilibrium with ice can be used as an easy in-class experimental determination of a liquidus. This experiment emphasizes the symmetry of the behavior of brines with regard to the minerals ice and halite and helps to free students from the conceptual tethers of one-component…

Secondary school earth-science textbooks in print from 1960 through 1979 were examined to determine how rapidly concepts of plate tectonics were incorporated into those texts during the period when scientists' views about these concepts were evolving most rapidly. Suggests that delays were probably due to an unwillingness to engage in speculation…

Geoscience departments with graduate programs were surveyed to determine the courses required of entering graduate students. Most geologists consider the core curriculum to be that which is required or recommended by most graduate programs. In addition to geology courses, two semesters of calculus, physics, and chemistry were required by more than…

Students test the hypothesis that the moon revolves east to west around the earth, determine by observation approximately how many degrees the moon revolves per night, and develop a scale model of the earth-sun-moon system in this laboratory exercise. Students are actively involved in the scientific process and are introduced to the importance of…

Students profit greatly from seeing geology in the field. Unfortunately, many factors make using the field as a training area difficult. Recommends that teachers participate in field excursions and transmit their learning into the classroom. Describes the GeoVenture concept and a trip to Great Britain. A slide set is available for nonparticipants.…

Describes the Proffit Mountain project, part of a senior-level class in applied geophysics that provides students with hands-on experience in applying principles and techniques learned in class. Students conduct magnetic, gravity, and radiometric studies over a diabase body which intrudes rhyolite at Proffitt Mountain in southeast Missouri.…

Argues that a term paper worthy of a high grade must be more than a quick literature review. It should be a research project on a subject narrowly focused enough that the instructor will learn new things and in which the writing process requires numerous drafts. Offers a short guide intended to be given to students as part of the term paper…

Presents an exercise in which cutouts or outlines of dinosaur footprints placed independently or in sets on the floor and laboratory benches are used to model dinosaur trackways. The nature, size, speed, and specific behavior of the trackmaker are determined from the trackways and from student-derived data as well as from diagrams and models based…

Prescribes the use and grading of student-created assessment portfolios for a large-enrollment, introductory-level environmental science course. Grading involves a modified holistic-scoring technique that evaluates student-provided evidence of academic achievement from extended, authentic tasks. Portfolio use emphasizes the integration of facts…

Explains an activity in which students construct a simulated ice core. Materials required include only a freezer, food coloring, a bottle, and water. This hands-on exercise demonstrates how a glacier is formed, how ice cores are studied, and the nature of precision and accuracy in measurement. Suitable for grades three through eight. (Author/PVD)

Focuses on films about dinosaurs that were made for young children. Nine films from 1981 to 1993 are reviewed and assigned ratings based on such issues as appeal for children, scientific content, and pedagogic soundness. Drawbacks such as factual errors or difficulty in following the film are also noted. Film length, source, and price are…

Introduces a package of six interrelated units on plate tectonics and earthquakes. The Seismic Sleuths curriculum contains hands-on activities integrating math, earth science, and social studies. Units cover personal experience as well as the science of earthquakes while students also construct buildings to study earthquake resistance. One…