Selected In-Class Assignments Resources

  1. Tracing the Challenger Expedition
    - NOAA Ocean Explorer: Then and Now: The HMS Challenger Expedition and the “Mountains in the Sea” Expedition
    - National History Museum: HMS Challenger: How a 150-year-old expedition still influences scientific discoveries today.

  2. Plate Tectonics: Spreading Rate Calculation
    - USGS: This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics
    - NOAA Ocean Explorer: Seafloor Spreading Activity

  3. Chemical properties of Water and CO₂ Impacts
    - NOAA Ocean Acidification Program: “What is ocean acidification?”
    - NOAA Ocean Acidification Program: Ocean Acidification Fact Sheet
    - NOAA PMEL Carbon Program: CO₂ in the ocean basics

  4. Air-Sea Interactions Think-Pair-Share
    - NOAA Climate.gov: The Rise of El Nino and La Nina
    - NASA Earth Observatory: Climate and Earth’s Energy Budget

  5. Earthquake Location & Intensity
    - USGS Earthquake Hazards: How do seismologist locate an earthquake?
    - USGS: The Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale

  6. Volcanic Hazards Mapping
    - USGS Volcano Hazards Program
    - Smithsonian GVP: Holocene volcanoes in the North America Volcanic Regions.

  7. Geologic Time Cross-Sections
    - USGS: Geologic time
    - Smithsonian NMNH: Deep Time resources

  8. Climate Proxies Jigsaws
    - NOAA Paleoclimatology (NCEI): The world’s largest archive of climate and paleoclimatology data
    - NASA Earth Observatory: Paleoclimatology

Selected Discussions Resources

  1. Applying The Scientific Method
    - UCMP: Understanding Science 101
    - National Academies/AAAS: science practices in classrooms

  2. The Status of Pluto: Planet or Not?
    - Division for Planetary Science: What is a planet?/2006 resolution
    - NASA: Pluto overview (New Horizons mission)

  3. Strengthening Alfred Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory
    - USGS: history of plate tectonics (post-WWII evidence)
    - European Geophysical Union: Magnetic Anomalies Over Oceanic Ridges

  4. Analyzing Global Volcanic Eruptions
    - Smithsonian GVP: Weekly Volcanic Activity Reports & eruption database

  5. Shifting Gases: Temperature & Ocean Chemistry
    - NOAA PMEL: Uptake and Storage of Carbon Dioxide in the Ocean: The Global CO₂ Survey
    - NOAA Ocean Explorer: It’s a Gas! Or is it?

  6. The Future of Tidal Energy
    - U.S. DOE Water Power Technologies Office: Marine Energy Basics
    - European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC): technology & case studies

  7. Beach Stabilization Strategies & Their Impacts
    - USGS: Coastal Change Hazards
    - NOAA Digital Coast: living shorelines/stabilization options
    - USACE: Engineering With Nature Podcast

  8. Plastic Pollution in the Ocean
    - NOAA Marine Debris Program: Discover Marine Debris
    - Smithsonian Ocean: Marine Plastics Overview

Map of the Pacific Ocean showing areas of garbage patches, including the Western Garbage Patch, Eastern Garbage Patch or North Pacific Subtropical High, and the Subtropical Convergence Zone, with parts of North America and Asia visible.

Location of Garbage Patches in the ocean. Image Source: NOAA Marine Debris Program

A pie chart depicting various types of plastic waste, including cigarette butts, beverage bottles, bottle caps, food containers, grocery bags, food wrappers, cups and plates, and straws or stirrers. Each segment is labeled with the waste type.

Types of marine pollutants collected globally in 2023. Graphic based on data presented in the 2024 IPCC annual report.