BRINGING GPS DATA AND DATA-RICH ACTIVITIES INTO COLLEGE AND SECONDARY EARTH SCIENCE CLASSROOMS

GPS data is an effective method to illustrate the geomorphic effects of plate tectonics and help students to “see” plate tectonics in different temporal and spatial scales. Many crustal deformation processes are expressed on Earth's surface over the familiar time scales of days, months, and years with displacements ranging from millimeters to meters per year. High-precision Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers measure movement to sub-centimeter accuracy and are used to study geo-tectonic processes such as plate motion, volcanic activity, post-earthquake plate deformation, and other events. Over the past decades, multiple high-precision GPS networks have been installed in tectonically active areas.

Funded by NSF and NASA, UNAVCO supports the scientific community in all relevant aspects of high precision space geodesy and operates the Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), one component of the EarthScope initiative. PBO is maintaining and installing over 800 GPS stations, including many of the existing GPS networks, to create a geodetic observatory designed to study the deformation across the active boundary zone between the Pacific and North American plates in the western United States. The GPS data from PBO is freely available in a variety of formats, including a format readily usable by standard spreadsheet and graphing programs as well as visualization and analysis tools such as the Integrated Data Viewer (IDV).

To support educators and their students to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the Earth as a dynamic system, UNAVCO has developed the Data for Educators portal with a Google-map displaying GPS locations with data that illustrate specific Earth processes, time series plots, numerical GPS data, and educational activities that use this data. Numerical data files can be downloaded so that students construct their own tables and graphs to explore and analyze plate motion and other events. Supplemental data-rich learning activities are targeted to undergraduate and secondary education students in general and introductory Earth science courses. By providing a suite of tools, the UNAVCO Data for Educators portal encourages learners to gain a better understanding of the dynamic processes happening on and in our Earth; please visit: http://www.unavco.org/edu_outreach/data.html.