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The directional feature of Earth's geomagnetic field has been contributing to the technological development and prosperity of humankind since the invention of the magnetic compass navigation centuries ago. Today, for instance, magnetoresistance sensors are commonly used in nanosatellites and unmanned aerial vehicles for high accuracy geomagnetic field-based navigation and mineral survey exploration.

Described here is a well established opensource geophysics project to monitor atmospheric infrasound 24/7. It employs a modern digital, I[superscript 2]C enabled differential pressure sensor--unlike the older analog devices more commonly used. Python software automatically uploads plots whilst data is stored in standard ".mseed" format for further analysis. Very open-ended with lots of opportunities for students of all levels, schools and above, to redesign and test replacement components. This is real science, in a little studied area. The equipment required is relatively cheap and offers many opportunities for students to build and refine a sensing system of research quality. It may be of interest as a national school's network producing results of real scientific and educational value at little cost.

Article describes basic principles of seismic, electric prospection and electrochemical data complexation, received on the same research objects. The goal of our exploration works is complex exploration of hydrocarbon deposits on arctic shelf. Complex is based on ion-selective electrodes for detection of heavy metal complex anomalies in sea water--indicators, which lies in sedimentary cover, oil deposits, in gas and gas condensate. Measurements are completed by sea bottom stations in profiling mode. Provided descriptions of new method of seismic, electric prospection and electrochemical data complexation while interpreting results of seismic research with reflected waves method and electric prospecting by electrical resistance and / or induced polarization method and an electrochemical method. Theoretical and methodological basics of geophysics data interpretation in the implementation of hydrocarbon prospecting are presented. Complex field works features that increases reliability of deposit availability forecast are described.

Many students view equations as a series of variables and operators into which numbers should be plugged rather than as representative of a physical process. To solve a problem they may simply look for an equation with the correct variables and assume it meets their needs, rather than selecting an equation that represents the appropriate physical process. These issues can be addressed by encouraging students to think of equations as stories, and to describe them in prose. This is the goal of the Equation Dictionary project, used in Western Washington University's introductory geophysics course. Throughout the course, students create personal dictionaries consisting of (a) the equation itself, (b) a brief description of variables, (c) a prose description of the physical process described by the equation, and (d) additional notes that help them understand the equation. In writing these definitions students learn that equations are simplified descriptions of physical processes, and that understanding the process is more useful than memorizing a sequence of variables. Dictionaries also serve as formula sheets for exams, a task that encourages students to write meaningful, organized definitions. Furthermore, instructor review of the dictionaries is an excellent way to identify student misconceptions and learn how well they understand derivations and lectures.

Described is an established geophysics project to construct a solar wind monitor based on a nT resolution fluxgate magnetometer. Low-cost and appropriate from school to university level it incorporates elements of astrophysics, geophysics, electronics, programming, computer networking and signal processing. The system monitors the earth's field in real-time uploading data and graphs to a website every few minutes. Modular design encourages construction and testing by teams of students as well as expansion and refinement. The system has been tested running unattended for months at a time. Both the hardware design and software is published as open-source [1, 10].

The study of earthquakes can help students build connections between theoretical analysis and real-world applications. However, units on earthquakes typically struggle to bridge that gap between theory and application. Traditional class activities focus on measuring earthquakes, such as triangulating epicenters by analyzing P and S wave arrival times (see sidebar, p. 38) or using wave amplitudes to calculate Richter magnitudes. STEM-based activities take another step by adding a community-minded perspective. Such lessons often involve shaking models of buildings to measure resonance or using the Mercalli Intensity Scale (see sidebar, p. 38) to quantify structural damage and human responses. Such lessons, though valuable, limit students to analysis without action, leaving them to wonder how their results might be applied. This article describes a lesson in which students act on their analyses by determining emergency response priorities in a theoretical earthquake disaster scenario. The students step into the shoes of engineers to analyze data from a variety of sources to make critical decisions for their community.

Science educators, historians of science and their students often share a curiosity about historical instruments as a tangible link between past and present practices in the sciences. We less often integrate instruments into our research and pedagogy, considering artefact study as the domain of museum specialists. We argue here that scholars and teachers new to material culture can readily use artefacts to reveal rich and complex networks of narratives. We illustrate this point by describing our own lay encounter with an artefact turned over for our analysis during a week-long workshop at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. The text explains how elements as disparate as the military appearance of the instrument, the crest stamped on its body, the manipulation of its telescopes, or a luggage tag revealed the object's scientific and political significance in different national contexts. In this way, the presence of the instrument in the classroom vividly conveyed the nature of geophysics as a field practice and an international science, and illuminated relationships between pure and applied science for early twentieth century geologists. We conclude that artefact study can be an unexpectedly powerful and accessible tool in the study of science, making visible the connections between past and present, laboratory and field, texts and instruments.

The purpose of this paper is to share the experience gained in, and the efforts made toward, introducing and implementing a new course in the challenging and important area of geophysical signal processing at the Electrical Engineering (EE) Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The new course, titled "Geo-Signal Processing," was offered both at the graduate level and as a special topics course to undergraduates. The course was developed in collaboration with the Earth Sciences Department at KFUPM. This paper contributes new information because it stresses the multidisciplinary aspects of digital signal processing (DSP) technologies when applied to estimating the Earth's layered structure on the basis of seismic data. Unlike many Earth sciences seismic data processing courses, this Geo-Signal Processing course also emphasizes that the perspective taken by those working in DSP is different from that taken by geophysicists. The course presents DSP with particular emphasis on seismic data signals and the artifacts accompanying them while covering the principles and algorithms needed for processing seismic signals in both deterministic and statistical fashion. Topics include, but are not limited to, basic seismic theory, acquisition of seismic data, analysis of seismic signals and noise, deterministic filtering of seismic data, and statistical processing of seismic data. (Contains 9 figures and 3 tables.)

"A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas" emphasizes that the practice of science is inherently a model-building activity focused on constructing explanations using evidence and reasoning (NRC 2012). Because building and refining is an iterative process, middle school students may view this practice as tedious and fail to appreciate science as a creative endeavor. Digital tools such as Google Earth (GE) can help with this challenge, but many classroom applications of GE limit students to passive observation of pre-developed GE tours. The authors wondered how they could get their students to use GE as a scientist would--to view, explore, and create geospatial visualizations that advance scientific understanding. Consequently, they developed the Cyber-Enabled Earth Exploration Curriculum, which is described in this article. Using this curriculum, students progress from making simple observations in the GE environment to creating their own data files and overlays to evaluate and visualize data. (Contains 12 figures and 1 online resource.)

The purpose of this study is to introduce a problem-based learning material, the Satellite Module, that has integrated some of the subjects included in the disciplines of physics and mathematics at an introductory level in undergraduate education. The reason why this modular and problem-based material has been developed is to enable students to investigate a real-life problem, both in and outside the class, in a fictitious set of PBL scenarios where physics and mathematics subjects are integrated, and produce a relationship between the two prementioned fields of study. The longer version of the module was tested on 75 geophysics engineering students at Dokuz Eylul University during 2005-2006 academic year. The study is advisory as it has some limitations due to the fact that the PBL approach has not been compared to the classical teaching method where the subjects of physics and maths are instructed separately. Hence, the effectiveness of the approach suggested, such as the success of the course, transferring what has been learnt, should be investigated in further studies. (Contains 3 figures.)

Learn the astronomy behind the changing of the seasons. Students know that we mark the change of seasons with the position of the Sun over certain parts of the Earth. The specific time and date for the change of seasons is determined by the position of the Sun, not above the horizon necessarily, nor geographically, but rather where the Sun is using astronomical coordinates. (Contains 2 figures and 5 resources.)

This study aimed to investigate the models that co-existed in students' cognitive structure to explain the interactions between electric charges and uniform magnetic fields. The sample consisted of 129 first-year civil engineering, geology and geophysics students from a large state university in western Turkey. The students answered five diagnostic questions, testing their understanding of the interactions between electric charges and magnetic fields. For each question, the students had 100 points to divide between the options in order to indicate the ones that were attractive to them. The study found that many students possessed more than one model competing to explain the phenomenon in each question and they found these models plausible. This study provided further evidence that students' reasoning was context-dependent. However, employing teaching approaches like the learning cycle during the instruction might help students to grasp a more coherent understanding of the interactions between electric charges and magnetic fields. Encouraging students to use metacognitive strategies in science courses might help them to develop the habit of thinking about their thought. This, in turn, might reduce the adverse effects of the cues presented in questions on their reasoning. (Contains 2 tables.)

This study aims to explore problem-based learning (PBL) in conjunction with students' confidence in the basic ideas of electromagnetism and their motivational orientations and learning strategies. The 78 first-year geology and geophysics students followed a three-week PBL instruction in electromagnetism. The students' confidence was assessed through a diagnostic test on electromagnetism. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) was used to identify students' motivational orientations and learning strategies. The results indicate that many students were confident in incorrect answers, and had inadequate use of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies. Providing students with some formative assessments during the PBL process could help them to better judge their understanding, which, in turn, would result in better student calibration (i.e., students would be more confident in their correct answers, and less confident in their incorrect answers) in electromagnetism. Helping the first-year PBL students to obtain effective cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies early in the academic year could improve their understanding of physics concepts. (Contains 3 tables.)

We describe a simple experiment demonstrating the variation in magnitude of a magnetic field with distance. The method described requires only an ordinary magnetic compass and a permanent magnet. The proposed graphical analysis illustrates a unique method for deducing a general rule of magnetostatics. (Contains 1 table and 6 figures.)

A collaborating scientist--a rewarding addition to any high school science program--can help students collect and analyze data that either replicates or parallels the work of the partnering scientist. This type of partnership is beneficial for both students and scientists, and perhaps there has never been a better time to consider such a collaborative project. In this article, the authors present a scientist-student collaborative project developed by University of Alaska Fairbanks geophysicist Martin Jeffries together with a program that he developed called the Alaska Lake Ice and Snow Observatory Network (ALISON). This article examines the critical components of a successful collaborative scientist-student project. (Contains 2 figures.)

Approximately thirty years ago archivists began formulating new models to guide archival collecting, creating a literature that continues to grow. In the mid-1980s, the introduction of the documentation strategy collection model put new emphasis on cooperation between repositories and among stakeholders. The model initially focused on the history of science, which has traditionally been poorly documented. Today, the documentation strategy model remains an essential tool in preserving the history of physics, astronomy, geophysics, and allied fields. The Center for History of Physics is using it to move beyond the records of academic science to develop strategies to preserve sources in the especially hard-to-document realms of government and corporate research. (Contains 15 notes.)

Performs an analysis of all 1128 publications produced by scientists during their employment at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, thus assessing research performance using as bibliometric indicators such statistics as publications per year, citations per paper, and cited half-lives. Evaluates five different methods for determining the cited half-life and discusses the robustness and limitations of the methods. (Contains 50 references.) (AEF)

Outlines a number of activities to be conducted with a stream table (large wooden box filled with sediment and designed for water to pass through) in class. Activities illustrate such fluvial processes as stream meandering, erosion, transportation, and deposition. Includes a diagram for constructing a stream table. (MJP)

Introduces a package of six interrelated units on plate tectonics and earthquakes. The Seismic Sleuths curriculum contains hands-on activities integrating math, earth science, and social studies. Units cover personal experience as well as the science of earthquakes while students also construct buildings to study earthquake resistance. One activity--Building Oscillation Seismic Simulation--is described in detail. (PVD)

Presents a mathematical explanation for the development of tidal activity. (MVL)

Describes the Proffit Mountain project, part of a senior-level class in applied geophysics that provides students with hands-on experience in applying principles and techniques learned in class. Students conduct magnetic, gravity, and radiometric studies over a diabase body which intrudes rhyolite at Proffitt Mountain in southeast Missouri. Contains 22 references. (Author/PVD)

Describes how college students enrolled in a course in elementary algebra apply graphing and algebra to data collected from a seismic profile to uncover the structure of a subterranean rock formation. Includes steps guiding the activity. (MDH)

Described are concepts involved with the formation and actions of the Mid-Ocean Ridge. Sea-floor spreading, the magma supply model, discontinuities, off-axis structures, overlaps and deviation, and aquatic life are discussed. (CW)

Described is a set of FORTRAN programs, suitable for teaching and research purposes, that simulate contact and regional metamorphism. Equations, examples, program uses, and availability are discussed. (CW)

Discussed are some of the reasons for earthquakes which occur in stable crust away from familiar zones at the ends of tectonic plates. Crust stability and the reactivation of old faults are described using examples from India and Australia. (CW)

Discusses the way in which physics can be used to determine the structure of the Earth and observe the processes indicative of the structures dynamic nature. (MDH)

Describes how seismic tomography is used to analyze the waves produced by earthquakes. The information obtained from the procedure can then be used to map the earth's mantle in three dimensions. The resulting maps are then studied to determine such information as the convective flow that propels the crustal plates. (JN)

Provides exploration into types of numeric databases available (also known as source databases, nonbibliographic databases, data-files, data-banks, fact banks); examines differences and similarities between bibliographic and numeric databases; identifies disciplines that utilize numeric databases; and surveys representative examples in the physical, geophysical, and biological sciences. Seventy-six references are provided. (EJS)