Peter Haff, Professor of Geology and Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nicholas School of the Environment, Earth & Ocean Sciences

Project Description:

Dr. Peter Haff’s class used Google Earth for their final project in the American Southwest (EOS 181S.01). They took a field trip to the Mojave Desert in October to study geologic features, including volcanism, tectonics, soils and weathering, paleo-lakes, wind-blown sand and dust, landslides, and alluvial fans. Prior to the field trip, the students selected biological, geological and astronomical topics to prepare for presentations in the field. At the end of the semester, students took the Earth and Ocean Sciences department (and me) on a virtual tour of their field trip using Google Earth. We followed the track of the trip to see the geological features and embedded photos and information supplied by the students. The students took turns explaining the features illustrated in Google Earth and their photos, including dunes, granite outcrops, vegetation zoning, desert pavement, dry lakes, badlands, bighorn sheep, craters, fault scarps, petroglyphs, a borax mine, relic shorelines, lava tubes and alien fresh jerky.

The students and Dr. Haff collaborated to create the Google Earth file, pooling their pictures and information. The students found that using Google Earth enhanced their learning because it provided:

• a sense of scale
• the ability to make measurements
• an overview of the area
• context for what they were seeing
• orientation.

Read more about this course in Duke Magazine.

More information, examples and tutorials about Google Earth can be found on their website; or, contact CIT for help incorporating Google Earth into your course.

Project start date: 8/25/2008

Alex Glass, Instructor, Nicholas School of the Environment

Project Description:

Alex Glass teaches Dynamic Earth, a large lecture course with more than 120 students.  He wanted his students to experience collecting data, analyzing and making inferences just as working geologists do. He designed an assignment where students would use a GPS unit and make observations and measurements to map a virtual oil field. A CIT Jump Start grant purchased the GPS units and materials for wooden stations representing rock outcrops.   Students collected data from field stations (pictured), and used this data to infer a geological map of a virtual Duke campus.

Students found that collecting the data was fairly easy and enjoyable, but analyzing the data to create the cross section was more challenging. The majority of students would recommend this course to other students.

Alex discussed his project at the 2009 CIT Showcase.

Project start date: 7/1/2008

Funding awarded: $1950

Jonathan Goodall, Assistant Professor of the Practice of Geospatial Analysis, Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment

Project description

In Advanced Geospatial Analysis (ENVIRON 359), students used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to understand environmental processes and how to protect and manage environmental resources. Students were required to work with large, complex databases and satellite images.

In support of these goals, students used iPods as portable storage to complete labs and projects with datasets too large for the classroom server. They also subscribed to podcasts from commercial GIS companies (e.g. Environmental Systems Research Institute) and from GIS practitioners to add these perspectives on cutting edge GIS technologies not yet documented in their textbooks.

Project start date: August 1,  2006

Peter Malin, Professor, Earth & Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment

Project description

EOS223S is an open, interdisciplinary elective in Nicholas School which satisfies a seminar requirement of Trinity undergrads; it includes topics in geology, engineering, energy, environment, and policy. The course focused on the actual conditions and plans for a US national high-level nuclear waste deposit in Yucca Mountain, Nevada, through a guided field trip to the Yucca Mountain site. Pre-field trip classes included lectures on Yucca Mountain geology and student-prepared seminars/posters on specific aspects of Yucca Mountain and nuclear waste disposal. Geology requires students to visualize both scales and complex three dimensional relationships from 2 dimensional maps, which is particularly difficult for non-majors. The Duke Immersive Virtual Environment (DiVE Tank) provided three dimensional visualization of the geology and subsurface engineering, and an interactive way to explore the scale of the field site.

By the end of the course, students stated that the use of the 3-D Visualization before the field trip helped to frame the spatial relationships between sediment layers, faults, and topography. The students were asked write a position paper on the integrated geological, economic, and social aspects of the proposed site and state their position on its licensing using the graphical evidence. Their papers showed that they achieved most of the following goals: they referenced appropriate data bases of existing documents, and related these materials to the actual scales lengths, including time, space, economic, social, and political dimensions associated with the potential site and its use.

Project start date: May 26, 2006
Funding awarded: $5,000