Hello GEOED listers:
Thanks Julie, that looks like a great resource for my field methods class! I think this is a good list to send the following question which I am mulling over these days, if not I apologize...
I am looking for some kind of computer animation that explains focal mechanisms ("beach ball diagrams") for earthquakes. I do lots of hand-waving when I am teaching how they work, and I think the students would get it lots quicker if there were some kind of movie that showed how the compression and extension are generated by the first motions of the quake, and how that relates to the diagram. If such an animation does not exist, which I suspect, I am poised to create it! Our computer services department thinks they can make something in Flash, but I hate to reinvent the wheel... so far the only online explanations of focal mechanisms that I have found are static diagrams:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/glossary.php?termID=71
http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/beachball.html
http://serc.carleton.edu/files/NAGTWorkshops/structure04/Focal_mechanism_primer.pdf
http://www.seismo.unr.edu/htdocs/WGB/Recent/explanation/
I am also thinking of doing some kind of before and after study of how students do on similar exam questions with just my lecturing and the static drawings compared to the introduction of some kind of animation... any advice, links, or ideas would be welcome!
Thanks very much (and apologies for cross-posting),
--Christa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
E. Christa Farmer, Ph.D.
Hofstra University
Geology Department
145 Gittleson Hall
Hempstead, NY 11549
516-463-5566
[log in to unmask]
>>> Julie Libarkin <[log in to unmask]> 02/04/09 10:33 AM >>>
All:
A couple of UK colleagues have a new guide to effective fieldwork that
is grounded in the research on experiential learning. It is well-worth
reading:
Designing Effective Fieldwork for the Environmental and Natural Sciences
John Maskall and Alison Stokes
http://www.gees.ac.uk/pubs/guides/eesguides.htm#GEESfwGuide
Take care
Julie
Julie Libarkin
Assistant Professor, Director - Geocognition Research Lab
Dept. of Geological Sciences & Division of Science and Math Education
Michigan State University
206 Natural Science
East Lansing, MI 48824
517-355-8369
