Frozen Power Activity Source: Source: Geological Society of America. Written by Greg McNamara, Christine V. McLelland, Gary B. Lewis, Davida Buehler, and Yueyi Che. Adapted with permission. You may be familiar with ice cubes in your favorite soda, but do you know there are very big ice cubes (scientists call them glaciers) hundreds to thousands of meters thick, lying in places with high mountains? These glaciers shaped beautiful landscapes all around the world — from Glacier National Park to Yosemite, from Patagonia in South America to the Himalayas in Asia. [Read More]

Geography of a Pencil Activity Source: National Geographic. Adapted with permission. How is the world connected to the pencil you hold in your hand? Complete this activity to find out. For the teacher: Before starting the activity, visit natgeoed.org/mapmaker- kit online. In the Mapping section, click “MapMaker Kits.” Assemble the World Political MapMaker Kit Mega Map for large- group instruction, or the tabletop map for work in smaller groups. Watch the assembly video included on the MapMaker Kit web page for more instructions on assembly. [Read More]

Geoheritage Via Google Street View Activity Source: Adapted with permission by Google. Google’s Street View is a rich resource for exploring geoheritage, since it visually transports us to many impressive sites across the country and around the world. Street View allows you to investigate a site, even one you don’t know well, which can lead to important insights. Of course, the real power and fun of Street View is that it allows you to explore by moving your visual perspective around the image. [Read More]

Geologic Age Activity Source: Adapted from the USGS Learning Web Lesson Plans Background At the close of the 18th century, the haze of fantasy and mysticism that tended to obscure the true nature of the Earth was being swept away. Careful studies by scientists showed that rocks had diverse origins. Some rock layers, containing clearly identifiable fossil remains of fish and other forms of aquatic animal and plant life, originally formed in the ocean. [Read More]

Geologic Time Scale Analogy Activity Source: Ritger, S.D. and R.H. Cummins. 1991. Using student-created metaphors to comprehend geologic time. Journal of Geological Education. 9:9-11. Purpose To introduce students to the vastness of [geologic time](/content/geological- time-scale) and the concept of scale. Background Unraveling time and the Earth’s biologic history are arguably geology’s most important contributions to humanity. Yet it is very difficult for humans to appreciate time beyond that of one or two generations, much less hundreds, thousands, millions and billions of years. [Read More]

Geoscience and Petroleum Careers Activity Source: SEED (SLB Excellence in Educational Development). Adapted with permission. What adventures await you as a student of the Earth sciences? How about a career as a scientist or engineer working for the world’s largest oilfield services company? SLB employees invent, design, engineer, and apply technologies to help customers find and produce oil and gas more efficiently and safely — often in remote and challenging locations. [Read More]

Getting Creative - Geologic Map Day Learning Activities “America the Beautiful” has inspired patriotism in Americans for generations. But few today realize that the song’s lyrics were originally written in the late 1800s by Katharine Lee Bates as a poem — one that she first called “Pike’s Peak.” Bates herself had been inspired by the grand landscapes she viewed as she crossed the country on a train trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado. [Read More]

Getting the Oil Out Activity Source: Society of Petroleum Engineers. Adapted with permission. Artificial lifting systems, or pumping units, are used to help pull oil out of reservoir rock and pump it up a well. A down hole pump in the well is connected to the pumping unit by steel rods, which are screwed together. The pump is activated from the up and down movement of the pumping unit on the surface. [Read More]

GIS and Careers Activity Source: ESRI. Adapted with permission. Geographic information systems (GIS) are mapping and analysis tools that people use in all walks of life. GIS is problem-solving technology, for careers in research, policy-making, and production — in government agencies, non-profit groups, and for-profit companies, from global to local levels. Whatever the sphere — atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, or biosphere — there are little challenges and major dilemmas that can be addressed only by examining the patterns of where things are, the traits of things here versus things over there, and how things relate to each other. [Read More]

Glacier Slide Activity Source: National Park Service Objective You will be able to describe how a glacier carves an area and label the characteristics formed by the glacier’s movement. Background There are many glaciers all over Alaska. Flying into Lake Clark National Park and Preserve through Lake Clark Pass, you will see many glaciers. These glaciers were growing during the last Ice Age. Now many are retreating because Alaska is getting warmer. [Read More]