Earth Systems Resources for Teaching

Recommended Virtual Lab

Name	Earthquake
Overview	Earthquake is a web-based simulation where students analyze seismograms of simulated earthquakes to determine their epicenters and Richter magnitudes. For more information see MERLOT Material Detail for Earthquake.
Grade Levels	High School, Middle School; College
Recommended Lesson Plans	MERLOT Learning Exercise for Virtual Courseware – Earthquake
Other Lesson Plans	All MERLOT Learning Exercises for Earthquake
Engaging students where English is a second language	Terremoto is a Spanish translation of Earthquake
Applicable CA Standards	High School: Dynamic Earth Processes 3d; California Geology 9b; Investigation and Experimentation 1a-l. Grade 6: Plate Tectonics and Earth's Structure 1d-g; Investigation and Experimentation 7b,c.
Assessment Rubrics	Earthquake has a built-in assessment tool. See Student Assessment section for more information.
How to Use This Lab	Go to an animated Tour of Earthquake
Get Expert Advice	Robert Desharnais –author of Earthquake and Professor of Biology at Cal State LA. Gary Novak – coauthor of Earthquake and Professor of Geology at Cal State LA.
Comments from Fellow Teachers	MERLOT Comments for Earthquake
Add Your Comments and Rate It	Use the "Write a comment" link on the right hand side of the MERLOT Material Detail for Earthquake page.
Add Your Lesson Plan to the Collection	Use the "Write a comment" link on the right hand side of the MERLOT Material Detail for Earthquake page.

Free Virtual CourseWare:

Under the direction of Dr. Bob Desharnais, the Virtual Courseware Project at California State University, Los Angles has developed an exciting array of award winning simulations to support teachers and students investigating topics in Earth Systems Science. At http://www.Sciencecourseware.org/ you will find a collection of exciting simulations These materials will let your students do Science not just listen or read about Science.

Digital Library for Earth System Education
The Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) is a distributed community effort involving educators, students, and scientists working together to improve the quality, quantity, and efficiency of teaching and learning about the Earth system at all levels.

DLESE supports Earth system Science education by providing: access to high-quality collections of educational resources, access to Earth data sets and imagery including the tools and interfaces that enable their effective use in educational settings, support services to help educators and learners effectively create, use, and share educational resources, communication networks to facilitate interactions and collaborations across all dimensions of earth system education.

DLESE resources include electronic materials for both teachers and learners, such as lesson plans, maps, images, data sets, visualizations, assessment activities, curriculum, online courses, and much more. The National Science Foundation provided funding for the development of DLESE which is now operated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Computational and Information Systems Laboratory and the NCAR Library on behalf of the education community.

Starting Point
Learn about instructional methods that work with entry-level geoscience students. This site is designed for faculty and graduate students teaching undergraduate entry-level geoscience, environmental Science, or related courses. Each section describes a teaching method, why/when it is useful, how it can be implemented, and a set of examples spanning the Earth system that can be used in your class.

Pathway to Multimedia Resources for the Classroom Provided by Teachers' Domain at WGBH Teachers' Domain offers multimedia resources incorporating sound educational practices and provides teachers with media-rich resources that go beyond static textbook presentations. Classroom-ready resources include video clips, interactive activities, and images from educational public television shows such as NOVA, ZOOM, and A Science Odyssey. Curricula are aligned and referenced online to state standards in Science content. Registration is required.

Middle School Portal Provided by Digital Library Projects at The Ohio State University The NSDL Middle School Portal provides access to selected online resources for instruction and professional development from the National Science Digital Library. Subject pathways in Mathematics, Science, and Technology present topic lists that take an in-depth look at teachable concepts in Science, Math, or Technology. Features include lively text and graphics along with background for teachers, interactive online activities, data analyses, and links to related topics.