Rock Blog

Virtual and Online Field Trip Guides.

This is a flat out stunning list of Virtual Geology Field Trips in North America and Canada (the Canadian List is at the bottom of the page)….

Many of the western Canada ones are from University of Lethbridge, it looks like…

Some of the links may be dead (the site was last updated in March 2002), but the list is worth exploring, for sure!

Plain Geology.

In my EOSC 311 course, I encourage students to get familiar with the terms of geology — all disciplines have their own language, and one of the benefits of taking a course in a technical field is learning new language. This article, written in 1921 by then USGS Director George Otis Smith, is a call for those in the discipline to use more plain language so that those outside the field can understand the importance of our work. Like the intro to the article says, this plea is just as valid today as it was in 1921….

One of my favorite parts of this paper:

It takes years for some geologists to break the fetters of this scholastic habit of using big words for small ideas. Probably every one of us has been guilty of sentences like the following, which appeared in a Survey manuscript. “The argillaceous character of the formation is very prominent in some localities, although it is usually subsidiary to the arenaceous phase.” On being translated this means: At some places the formation includes considerable clay, but generally it is made up chiefly of sand.

I think this writing can be generalized to all technical fields – out language is powerful, but we need to be able to express ourselves in plain language as well! The article also caused me to reflect on my current field — learning technology. When interacting with others, particularly faculty and students, the need for Plain Language — not computer speak is so important. The biggest sin in that field I see is acronym mania — man! “X-M-L R-P-C M-O-U-S-E”…

But I digress…

This article is an easy read, is humourous while making an excellent point that we can all learn from, I think.

Explore the World of Earth Science”

A description of the site is provided by the authors below.. Though created to accompany a high school text, many of the animations and investigations are applicable to higher level and general study of the field. I can see pointing to specific parts of this site in my EOSC 311 course!

This snippet was taken from the “Using the Exploring Earth” web site. The page covers what the site is about, as well as technical requirements.

The investigations and visualizations on this site were designed to accompany Earth Science, a high school textbook authored by Spaulding and Namowitz and published by McDougal Littell. The Web site was developed by TERC, a non-profit educational research and development firm in collaboration with McDougal Littell. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation.

Visualizations and investigations on the site were designed to build students’ knowledge of Earth Science concepts described in the textbook, and to raise student awareness of Earth as a system of interconnected components and processes.

Discovery Channel – Make a Quake.

The size of a quake is not the only variable to consider when evaluating the magnitude of damage that might ensue.

This Flash-based simulation allows one to choose different substrates, select quake-proofing technologies and subject a building to different size quakes. It then describes the “aftermath”.

It’s a good activity to do to get a baseline conceptual understanding. It’s not as technical as the one I use in my class (Virtual Earthquake), but it would be a good to look at first.. then do the other exercise…

Hmmm….

The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Astronaut Photography of Earth – Display Record

This is a repost from a 2003 entry…

Thanks to the posting in today’s Distance Educator Daily News, I was drawn back to one of my favorite sites… at Earth and Environmental Courseware.

I used the first version of the “Virtual Earthquake” site when I was teaching intro geology type courses – -I’m sure I have a copy of my “Virtual Seismologist” certificate somewhere.

If you are teaching geology, or just like to learn about it, visit this site! It rocks! (yeah.. that was bad).