Physical Geology Laboratory Manual
By Richard M. Busch
10th edition
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 1
,Table of Contents
General Tips for Getting Started 2
Errata 4
Before You Teach a Laboratory 5
Pedagogical Model 7
Lab 1: Thinking Like a Geologist 8
Lab 2: Plate Tectonics and the Origin of Magma 23
Lab 3: Mineral Properties, Identification, and Uses 40
Lab 4: Rock-Forming Processes and the Rock Cycle 48
Lab 5: Igneous Rocks and Processes 54
Lab 6: Sedimentary Processes, Rocks, and Environments 61
Lab 7: Metamorphic Rocks, Processes, and Resources 72
Lab 8: Dating of Rocks, Fossils, and Geologic Events 77
Lab 9: Topographic Maps and Orthoimages 87
Lab 10: Geologic Structures, Maps, and Block Diagrams 99
Lab 11: Stream Processes, Landscapes, Mass Wastage, and Flood Hazards 116
Lab 12: Groundwater Processes, Resources, and Risks 127
Lab 13: Glaciers and the Dynamic Cryosphere 137
Lab 14: Dryland Landforms, Hazards, and Risks 146
Lab 15: Coastal Processes, Landforms, Hazards, and Risks 154
Lab 16: Earthquake Hazards and Human Risks 159
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, BEFORE YOU TEACH A LABORATORY
BEFORE LAB BEGINS
1. Decide what activities your students should complete before and during the lab.
Most labs deliberately include more activities than your students could complete in a
single lab period, so you can choose the activities that you think will best enable your
students to learn what you expect them to learn in the lab time available.
2. Check the list of errata (page 4 in this Instructor Manual) for corrections that must
be made in the lab that you plan to use.
3. Assign pre-lab preparations for your students to complete. This may include:
a. Complete the first activity of the lab and by the start of the lab.
b. Watch the pre-lab video for the lab.
c. Take a pre-lab quiz using MasteringGeologyTM or other quiz of your design.
d. Complete assigned readings in the lab manual, class textbook, or other.
e. Know what activities must be completed by the end of the lab period.
f. Know what materials each student must bring to the start of the lab (as noted in
the blue boxes of the lab manual that start of each activity and as noted at the start
of each laboratory section of this Instructor Manual).
4. Review and assemble the Instructor Materials that you must provide during the
lab period. A list of the Instructor Materials is provided in this instructor manual, at
the start of each for each lab section. They are generic lists only and must be modified
by you to avoid confusion and know exactly what to assemble for the laboratory.
5. Review each activity and the Answers to Questions (provided in this instructor
manual) for each activity/question that you assign to your students. Some
questions have more than one right answer depending on how you have presented
material for students to read or explore.
6. Analyze pre-lab results, if you are assigned a pre-lab quiz using
MasteringGeologyT M or a similar program. Use that information to isolate
weaknesses and misconceptions of a student or class. Then build a plan for
intervention that makes the most of the time that students will have in the laboratory.
7. Develop the scope and sequence of the teaching/learning plan that you plan to
follow during the lab period.
a. What will you do at the start the lab period? For example, you may:
Declare the scope and sequence of what students must do during the lab
period, how they are expected to do/record their own work yet work
and/or work in collaborative groups, and the safety practices that they
must follow.
Review pre-lab weaknesses and misconceptions and/or use lab PowerPoint
to introduce the lab.
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, Review how and where students obtain the materials they need (the
materials that you are providing in the lab).
Address questions.
b. What will you do during the lab period? For example, you may:
Allow students to work on activities at their own pace or according to your
other plan.
Move about the room to be sure students/groups have the materials they
need and are on task.
Address questions, use guiding questions of your own to help students
scaffold from the unknown to the known (or inability to ability), and
implement personal interventions as needed (especially relative to pre-lab
quiz results and special-needs).
c. What will you do near/at the end of the lab period? For example, you may:
Review the results of each activity (item by item or the Reflect and
Discuss questions for formative purposes (i.e., to guide learning).
Have students submit their individual worksheets for summative
assessment (evaluation for a grade).
Have students complete a graded post-lab quiz.
Have students address the Think About It questions linked to the lab
and/or the activities that they completed.
DURING THE LAB PERIOD
8. Carry out the plan that you developed above, in parts 7a and 7b.
AT/NEAR THE END OF THE LAB PERIOD
9. Carry out the plan that you developed above, in part 7c.
10. Grade materials and provide grades and feedback to students in a timely
fashion.
11. Reflect on any feedback about the lab that students may have volunteered and
use it to inform/guide your grading and future teaching.
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