The SMILE Program @ OSU

During the August SMILE teachers workshop we spent an entire day learning about Oregon’s geology, hazards, and preparedness. All of the lesson materials shared were connected to NGSS with a specific focus on Cross Cutting Concepts. Check out some of the fun activities:

• Discovering Plate Boundaries
  • Blank plate boundary map
  • Geochronology
  • Seismology
  • Geography
  • Volcanology

• Landslide Hazards & Hazard Preparedness
  • Landslide Activity Worksheet
• Mt Hood Volcanic Hazard Activity
  • Mt Hood Worksheet
• Spaghetti Quake Activity
  • Spaghetti Quake Worksheet
• Making a Seismograph
  • Seismogram Worksheet
• Earthquake Triangulation Activity
  • Triangulation Worksheet
• Modeling Volcanic Processes
• Tsunamis
  • Tsunami questions for students
  • Tsunami Worksheet

We also had special guests who shared resources related to geologic topics.  Here are links to their websites:

• Oregon Department of Geology and Minerals Institute
• Oregon Office of Emergency Management

During an elementary session, teachers learned about riparian systems and their importance to birds and other organisms and we built model ecosystems. Here are the lesson plans that support these concepts:

• Introduction to a Riparian zone
• Food Webs
• Nature’s FBI
  • Food Chain Song
  • Decomposer Song
• Birds