Introduction
Introduction
I wrote the labs below for a general education level physical geology class at CSU Fresno. These labs first appeared in Workman et al (2018) and are freely available for use or adaptation. I plan to eventually revise these exercises to better follow the 5E lesson plan model. The primary objective of these labs is to provide general education students with an opportunity to explore the topics they're learning about in lecture using, where possible, real data.
Objective: The purpose of this lab is to review basic mathematical concepts used in this course and to introduce students to the use of quantitative analysis within the earth sciences. After completing this lab students should be able to perform basic mathematical operations, use dimensional analysis to perform unit conversions, plot data on a graph, and develop evidence-based conclusions based on the results of data analysis. Part 1 of this exercise reviews how to read graphs. Part 2 introduces constructing graphs from datasets and using charts to test hypotheses. Part 3 provides an overview of the use of dimensional analysis for unit conversion.
Objective: The purpose of this lab is to introduce students to igneous rocks and allow them to explore how we can use rock identification to deduce potential volcanic hazards. This lab works best as a two-period exercise, with students working on basic igneous rock identification the first day and volcanic hazards the second. The exercise is designed to scaffold with mineral identification and requires rock and mineral specimen in addition to the handouts linked below.