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REVIEW:
This site is supported in part by grants from the U.S. National
Science Foundation and the California State University System. It
offers a series of online interactive activities designed to encourage
students to make careful observations and measurements, do simple
calculations and answer questions about their work. A “Certificate
of Completion” is available at the end of each activity. Students
can save their work and return later. Maps, seismograms, journals
and background information can all be printed for reading offline.
Teachers can register (free) their classes for the online assessment
and return to see the scores after the entire class has finished.
There are currently three sections with at least two activities
each available for free to everyone. Earthquake or Virtual Earthquake
(both lead to the same activities) teachers students how seismic
waves are used to determine the magnitude of an earthquake and how
to locate its epicenter. Virtual Dating refers to geologic time
and focuses on how geologists and archeologists determine the ages
of rocks and ancient artifacts. Virtual River offers a series of
interactive exercises to help students learn about the river processes
such as discharge, flooding, flood frequency, erosion and disposition
with questions that check for understanding as you move through
the exercise. |
January
2005
