Properties of Fluids in Reservoirs Activity Source: American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Adapted with permission from EarthComm , American Geosciences Institute. Petroleum geologists play a vital role in locating energy resources. They use a variety of methods to collect the data they need to find reservoirs of oil and natural gas. When they find these reservoirs, petroleum geologists need to calculate their volume. They also need to estimate how much they can recover (remove) from the reservoir. [Read More]

Ring of Fire Activity Source: National Park Service. Adapted with permission. A plate boundary is a line on a map that defines the edge of a tectonic plate, usually indicating where one plate meets another. Plate boundaries are further divided by the direction that they are moving relative to one another. When plates are moving towards one another, the point of contact is called a convergent plate boundary. When plates are moving away from each other, it is called a divergent plate boundary. [Read More]

Rock Abrasion Activity Source: Association of American State Geologists. Adapted with permission. Rocks break down into smaller pieces through weathering. Rocks and sediment grinding against each other wear away surfaces. This type of weathering is called abrasion, and it happens as wind and water rush over rocks. The rocks become smoother as rough and jagged edges break off. In this activity, you will model how abrasion works. Materials For each person: [Read More]

Rock Around the World Activity Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Arizona State University, 2006. Adapted with permission. Background Scientists need your help. Those studying Mars are asking students from around the world to help them understand “the red planet.” Send in a rock collected by you or your classroom from your region of the world, and NASA scientists will use a special tool like the one on the Mars Rover to tell you what it’s made of. [Read More]

Rock Pop Activity Source: Geological Society of America. Adapted with permission. How can a cave form from solid rock? Most caves are found in limestone, a rock made of materials of calcium carbonate. This rock is unusual because the solid minerals it is made of easily dissolve in weak acids. The most common weak acid in the environment is actually water! This acid forms when carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves in the rain water to form carbonic acid. [Read More]

Sea and Ice Salinity Activity Source: NASA Aquarius Mission and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, 2007. Activity adapted with permission from UCLA Marine Science Center’s OceanGLOBE. Background What is sea ice? It is simply frozen ocean water. Why is sea ice important? While it occurs mainly in polar regions, sea ice influences our global climate. Changing amounts of sea ice can affect ocean circulations, weather patterns, and temperatures around the world. [Read More]

Seismic Calendar Activity Source: Barker, J. (2005) Student-centered experiments with earthquake occurrence data. The Earth Scientist 21(2), 21-23 (Spring 2005) Background This activity allows you to investigate how often earthquakes of various magnitudes happen within a geographic region of your choice. You will use the online resources of the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) to do the investigation. These resources are available at http://www.iris.edu Materials For a group of four: [Read More]

Seismic Mapping Activity Source: The Society of Petroleum Engineers. Adapted with permission. Scientists use seismic technology to map patterns of rock formations below the surface of the Earth. Different types of rocks affect sound waves. Geologists use these sound waves to locate rocks that may contain oil and/or natural gas. You can explore this principle with a tuning fork and various rocks. Gently strike a fork against the rocks. Note variations in sounds produced by different rocks. [Read More]

Sinkholes in a Cup Activity Source: Adapted from Project Underground, A Natural Resource Education Guide Background Sinkholes are natural depressions in the land caused when limestone and soils dissolve. They form when groundwater removes rock underground. They can form by slow gradual sinking or by sudden collapse of an underlying hole. Sinkholes are common in about one quarter of the U.S. You can usually identify them as circular or oval low spots in fields that may gather standing water after rains. [Read More]

Soil Color and Redox Chemistry Activity Source: Soil Science Society of America. Adapted with permission. Are soils like M&Ms™? Yes! Typical soil colors are red, brown, yellow, or black. These colors are often not the color of the minerals in the soil but coatings of iron oxides (Fe203, FeOOH, and so on) or organic matter on particles. The minerals beneath are often quartz or feldspar, which are grey. To see how coating affects soil color, consider red M&Ms™. [Read More]