Continue Your Practice
Try and use your knowledge of metacognition and calibration analysis to try and lower your average calibration as close to zero as possible! As you have seen, research has shown that high-performing students across disciplines are generally better calibrated than poorer-performing students, so try and better your calibration ability by carefully considering your own knowledge about the concepts during assessment and potentially improve your ability. Then use this during your studying to identify potential learning objectives you are weak on and study them! This site looks to help you to that goal within the geosciences by providing you opportunities to use the format of the baseline quizzes to monitor and improve your average calibration score. Get your results, reflect upon your calibration, and take another quiz after quiz and consider (and hopefully lower) your average calibration! Not to mention all of the awesome geoscience content you'll be learning!
New Baseline Quiz
Reflection
Theoretical Model:
Reassess and compare
Practice and Improve:
How to Classify Volcanoes
(Not Currently Live) This video describes the features geologists use to classify common types of volcanoes. We compare and contrast the features of two types of large volcanoes - shield volcanoes and composite volcanoes. One of these types produces structures that can be larger than Mount Everest while the other represent the majority of dangerous active volcanoes on Earth.We also explain that two other types of smaller volcanic landforms are relatively common and often form in association with their larger brethren. Finally, you can take a simple volcano recognition quiz to try to classify five examples of US volcanoes.
Porosity and Permeability
(Not Currently Live) This video briefly introduces the concept of groundwater before explaining how two properties - porosity and permeability - combine to determine the availability of groundwater and the ease with which it travels through rocks and sediment. We show simple bench-top demonstrations to illustrate each property and we calculate what a reasonable porosity value would be for common sediments such as sand and gravel. Finally, we discuss which rocks would best serve as sources of groundwater and which are likely to be barriers to groundwater flow.
Transform Plate Boundaries
(Not Currently Live) This video discusses the characteristics of transform plate boundaries where plates slide past each other. We examine four examples of transform boundaries between plates and describe how and why short transform segments offset the oceanic ridge system throughout the world's oceans. We take a closer look at the major transform boundary in North America, the San Andreas fault system and examine what the plate boundary looks like in the Californian desert and what might happen if it were to slip like it has done in the historical past. Finally, we give you an opportunity to see if you can identify the location of a transform boundary where it cuts across part of New Zealand.
Divergent Plate Boundaries
(Not Currently Live)This video describes the characteristics of divergent plate boundaries including the distribution of earthquakes, the elevation of the sea floor, and the age of the rocks along the oceanic ridge system. We spin some globes, fade some maps and label some sketches to show you what happens when a continent is split apart to form a new ocean basin. You will visit remote locations in east Africa and the Red Sea and figure out why the Pacific Ocean is wider than the Atlantic even though they are the same age and were formed by the same processes.