Earth Science Group Presentations
This is a chance for you to research an earth science topic of particular interest to you, and
present your research to the class. You must choose a team and a topic by the dates indicated on
the schedule.
General Instructions
 You must hand in a list of the group members and the topic name before the presentation.
 Your team must have either 3 or 4 people. If you can’t find a team, or need another person or
two, please contact me.
 On the day of your presentation, your team must hand in the following:
o A 1 page typed summary of your project, with the names of all team members and a
short summary of their contributions to the project.
o A bibliography, listing all the specific resources that your team used.
o One multiple choice test questions, pertinent to your presentation (you will try out
your question at the end of the presentation).
 Your presentation can be no longer than ten minutes. Trust me, this is a very short time!
Your team must be very well organized to make optimal use of such a short time.
 Team members must decide among themselves how to split up responsibility for the work,
including the presentation itself.
 Due to time restraints, it is essential that you practice your presentation to make sure it fits
into the allotted time.
 Your project should be informative, interesting, and well presented.
 Presentation dates are the last 2/3 days of class and will be assigned by lottery.
Topic Guidelines
Your team is welcome to choose any topic in Geology, Oceanography, Meteorology or Climate
but I must approve them. The following rules apply:
 Topic choice must be scientific in nature . no surfing presentations!) and fairly specific
(“Cenozoic Geology in Coastal San Diego” as opposed to “The Geology of San Diego”).
 Topics will not be approved if they overlap substantially with those covered in class (e.g.
general reports on volcanos, global warming, etc.).
 Research resources may include articles in scientific journals, books, the Internet, and even
personal interviews with experts in the field.
 A list of possible topics is attached.
Visual Aids: These are essential for an interesting presentation. Consider the following:
 Power Point Presentations – Bring your laptop or flashdrive to class with a slide done in
your version of Power Point to test compatibility. Our 2007 version may not recognize
Vista, Keynote, etc. MAC users need to provide a firewire cable. We have a cable for
PC lattops.
 Overhead transparencies, which can be made in color or black and white at Kinko’s or
any other photocopy store
 Posters. Make sure you keep each poster simple, illustrating only a few points, with large
enough writing or graphics to be seen from the back of the room.
 Demonstrations or models. Be creative, BUT remember you only have 10 minutes.
 A word on videos: Internet videos restricted to one minute of presentation
Grading
 Each team’s project will be evaluated using 4 criteria, each worth 25 points:
o Amount of scientific content and validity of that content
o Organization and ability to keep to schedule
o
o
Oral Presentation, including familiarity with material, ability to pronounce scientific
terms
Visual Presentation (big enough for people in the back to see, correct grammar and
spelling
Possible Topics (the more specific, the better)
Hydrothermal Vents
Offshore Drilling for Petroleum and Natural Gas
The formation of petroleum
The formation of Coal
Coastal Erosion in San Diego/California
Some specific aspect of Geology in San Diego
Rising sea levels: a real threat for the future?
Faults in San Diego
The possibility of new earthquake/volcanic activity at Mammoth Mountain
Using sea-floor sediments to study climate change
Using glacier ice cores to study climate change
How the earth’s mantle moves the lithospheric plate
Polarity Reversals of the Earth’s Magnetic Field
The possibility of water on another planet/moon in our solar system
Superplume Episodes in the Earth’s Geologic History
The Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction
The Permian-Triassic Extinction
The Origins of Water on Earth
Volcanic activity in and around Iceland
Recent “hot-spot” activity in and around Hawaii
Formation of diamonds
Ground-water contamination
Loss of ground-water resources
The loss of Colorado River water for San DiegoCounty and its negotiations with Imperial County
The geology of a specific national/state park (good examples include Yosemite, the Grand
Tetons, Joshua Tree, Devil’s Tower, Devil’s Postpile, Death Valley, etc.)
Evolution vs. “intelligent design”
Climate and thermohaline (deep water) currents
Tides
Using oxygen isotope analysis to determine currents
Implications of Global warming for California’s water supply