YOUNG PROFESSIONAL’S VIEW
The EarthQuiz Distraction
Stephanie Jarvis, YP-0125,
stephaniekjarvis@gmail.com
When I sat down to write this column today, I found myself doing as I have every time I’ve sat down to write recent- ly: opening up my internet browser to do a little “digging” for a topic (aka: checking email and Facebook, which have actually provided the inspiration for many of my columns but have lately not risen above distraction). A while ago, in an effort to get myself to pay more attention to interesting science news now that I’m no longer in an academic setting, I set my homepage to AGU’s website. Often, the page hasn’t even loaded before I have another tab open and am off to the races without even a glance, but this time a headline caught my eye: “Puzzles Invite You to Explore Earth with Interactive Imagery” (Dordevic et al., 2015). Puzzles?! I love puzzles. Perfect distraction.
The article is about the new EarthQuiz challenge, an open-source online tool that pulls from various imagery sources to create a quiz about geological fea- tures and locations. I immediately had flashbacks to a great Google Earth lab I did in my structural geology class in college and to more recent experiences of using it for work. I often find myself conflicted over how much you can see in applications like Google Earth—as a scientist, to say I love that all of that data is so accessible would be an understate- ment. However, I do find it bothersome that I can see my parents’ kayaks and beehives in their backyard. Regardless, EarthQuiz is pretty cool.
I was a little hesitant at first. The problems are structured as a multiple- choice question about what you are looking at and then a location question about where it is. How in the world am I supposed to know where this volcano is? I
quickly realized it wasn’t as ridiculous of a question as I thought (also, you can get hints!). Context clues in the well-written questions are helpful and, as the authors point out, thinking about provenance is one of the purposes of EarthQuiz.
The authors offer, and I can imagine, many scenarios for how EarthQuiz might be used in a classroom setting, such as pre-field trip assignments, as well as in less formal educational settings, such as assisted living communities. While there is undoubtedly some weariness towards such tools in the classroom because of their potential to “replace” fieldwork, I believe that the increased accessibility and understanding they provide far out- weigh the slight possibility that a field trip might not happen because students can see the outcrops from a computer. Additionally, being familiar with using imagery tools is an absolutely necessary skill for today’s students to have.
In addition to obvious usefulness in and outside of a classroom, EarthQuiz is fun. The questions are in groups of 5, so it doesn’t have to be a time drain. They also include vocabulary I’ve long forgotten, and make me think about geologically interesting areas all around the world that I would not have otherwise. Perfect distraction, indeed!
Reference
Dordevic, M. M., D. G. De Paor, S. J. Whitmeyer, C. Bentley, G. R. Whittecar, and C. Constants. 2015. Puzzles invite you to explore Earth with interactive imagery, Eos, 96, doi:10.1029/2015EO032621, URL:
https://eos.org/project-updates/ puzzles-invite-you-to-explore-earth- with-interactive-imagery
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Correction…
The Apr-May-Jun issue of TPG misspelled the name of author Mr. William A. Szary, CPG-11473, PG, in the review of his book series: Plate Tectonics Theory, Paleogeography, and the Ocean Basins. Mr. Szary’s 5-volume set on global plate tectonics provides an introduction to the unify- ing geologic theory that is presented in a non-technical format. The series is intended for readers interested in obtaining a basic understanding of continental drift, and provides an overview of the topic for those addressing geologic histories of the continents and oceanic basins. The authors targeted audiences for the book series include students in earth science studies, and other interested parties who will be introduced to the exciting topic of plate tectonics and continental-scale geology.
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