The list below is an overview of our Geology lesson library. For a full list of all lessons, including all versions (e.g., digital options, v-scope/slide options) of individual lessons, and the individual lesson SKUs, please visit the Lesson SKUs by Discipline page.

• Quality Matters Certified!
  • The SI Geology suite is Quality Matters certified. Click here to access the official certificate. 
• Interactive Introductory Content
  • Every lab incorporates at least one interactive (animation, summary image, interactive activity, etc.) in the Exploration to increase student engagement with the curriculum.
  • These are designed to blend seamlessly into the curriculum and are always called out ahead of time in the paragraph prior with directions as to how to interact with the item.
• Rocks and Minerals
  • Across all of the Geology labs, a total of 18 mineral, 28 rock, and 3 fossil samples are used.
  • A detailed list of the rocks and minerals included in the kit can be found in the FAQs.
• Digital Experiments
  • There are currently 8 fully digital lessons available for Geology, with new lessons in development. A comprehensive list of digital lessons can be found in the FAQ section.
• Set-Up Videos
  • Set-up videos are incorporated into experiments to guide students through complicated techniques or orient students to utilizing various assets.
• Safety
  • An updated safety overview is required in all courses, and includes a safety video, safety contract, and all relevant information for students ahead of beginning their experiments.

• Igneous Rocks
  • The Igneous Rocks lesson covers igneous rock formation, composition, and identification.
  • In the first experiment, students melt salol and recreate different environments of igneous rocks formation to view how temperature and rate of cooling impacts the size of crystals in igneous rocks.
  • In the second experiment, students identify eight igneous rocks samples.
  • Students receive salol, petri dishes, a beaker, rock identification kit, hand lens, streak plates, glass plates, and other items used for determining the mineral composition of the rocks.
  • Rock identification and classification is a foundational concept for Geology courses. No matter what level of customization being done, most geology courses will incorporate rock and mineral identification lessons.

• Groundwater
  • This lesson focuses on the hydrologic cycle, groundwater, and the concepts of porosity and permeability.
  • In the first experiment, students measure the porosity and permeability of three different aquifer materials.
  • In the second experiment, students analyze data from Darcy's experiment.
  • Students receive samples of gravel, sand, and silt, beakers, and a graduated cylinder.
  • Water flow and fluvial processes are covered in several ways in many geology courses. This lab is a great highlight of how we cover water.

• Earthquakes
  • This lesson covers the causes of earthquakes, the different types of seismic waves, and how an earthquake can be located. It's a great demonstration of a fully digital lesson.
  • In the experiment, students use Google Earth to identify the epicenter of an earthquake.
  • Earthquakes are a major foundational concept in Geology courses, as it relates directly to plate tectonics. This lesson is also a great demonstration of how we develop digital lessons using Google Earth.

Other good labs to demo:

• Weathering and Erosion - Students demonstrate physical and chemical weathering of rocks. Great set of hands-on experiments comparable to what is done in a classroom with lots of materials in the kit.
• Minerals - Lengthy, detailed introductory content with several great animations. Like igneous rocks, mineral identification is a foundational concept in Geology.
• Topographic Maps - Not material heavy, but we do provide a real topographic map. Nice to highlight for an instructor who values mapping as a component of their course.

• Cloud is WCAG 2.1 compliant.
• All videos are closed captioned.
• All images include Alt Tags.
• Interactives, including digital experiments, are all designed to be screen reader compatible.

• Carolina
  • Lessons
    • 10 total lessons listed on website (2 digital)
    • No duplicate topics
    • All lessons directly align to a lesson available in SI Geology.
  • Standard Kits
    • Geology (4 labs; $82)
  • Competitive Information
    • Topic Coverage - Carolina offers only 10 Geology lessons vs. 23 available through SIG. Carolina does not offer any historical geology-related lessons (fossils, evolution, dating), or lessons on mapping or landform formation. Additionally, Carolina lumps the three types of rocks into a single lesson on the rock cycle, rather than providing detailed coverage of the types of rocks that SIG offers.
    • Specimens - Carolina offers 15 minerals specimens vs. 12 offered by SIG. However, Carolina only offers 6 rock specimens vs. 24 offered by SIG. This would be considered highly deficient in many Geology courses.
    • Content Delivery - Carolina provides a printed or PDF lab manual that has procedures and a few questions. They do not have digital content or student portal platform/cartridges.
      • They do offer their content through Odigia, but this is a simple drop-in of their PDF manuals.
    • Content - Carolina offers limited introductory content and experimental support. The introductory content is majority text, very few images, and no interactives. Their experiments do not include set-up images and have very few support videos, leaving students to guess at how to set up their experiments correctly. Small number of assessments with no ability to customize or autograde.

• Labster
  • Labster does not offer any geology content on their platform currently.

• McGraw Hill
  • McGraw Hill does not offer any geology content on their platform currently.

• Pearson Mastering
  • Pearson Mastering offers a lab manual for hands-on Geology laboratories, but does not offer kits or virtual labs on the topic.

• Kendall Hunt
  • Lessons
    • 14 total lessons including plate tectonics, rock and mineral identification, geologic time, geologic features, and natural resources.
  • Standard Kit
    • Introductory Physical Geology and Laboratory (14 lessons, $138.86)
  • Competitive Information
    • Topic Coverage - The Kendall Hunt kit focuses on physical geology and has similar coverage to many of our physical geology topics. They do not include historical geology lessons such as relative/absolute dating, fossils, and evolution.
    • Specimens - Kendall Hunt ships 10 minerals and 21 rock specimens, which is slightly fewer than ours. Their rock analysis is set up similarly to ours, in which students work through the three types of rocks.
    • Curriculum Delivery - Kendall Hunt ships a printed manual as part of their kit. The manual includes the introductory content, laboratory instructions, and all assessments. They do have website content, but this is in support of the manual (the manual itself does not appear to be digitized).
    • Content - Each lesson includes learning objectives, background content (limited pictures, all in black-and-white), and some checkpoint questions for students. The labs themselves include an introduction, instructions, and multiple choice and long-answer questions. Online activities include interactive games and simulations, videos, images, and quizzes on the activities. Pages in the manual are perforated, so it's unclear whether students are turning in pages from the manual or turning in the online quizzes.

HOL Clients

• More Economical Price - We've reduced the number of rocks and minerals available to the students to provide a more economical price-point while maintaining the rigor of the curriculum. In doing this, we hope to allow Geology clients to offer the same high quality rock and mineral identification experience, while allowing them to expand the number of lessons they can include in their kit.
• Brand New Lessons - We've greatly expanded the number of lessons available versus our historic content, to include more content related to historical geology, as well as physical geology topics such as geologic time, geologic resources, and landform formation.
• Fully Updated Curriculum - The curriculum has been organized to better reflect current geology texts and courses. This includes consolidation of redundant lessons and splitting lessons covering broad topics into multiple lessons where applicable.
• Fully Redesigned Curriculum - Including best practices in instructional design (content chunking, visual engagement, etc.). The new curriculum includes interactives/videos that will increase student engagement and retention.
• New and Updated Experiments - The new curriculum includes a mix of old and new experiments. Old experiments have been updated based on instructor and student feedback to improve outcomes and student experience. New experiments have been added to increase rigor and expand the concepts covered in the lessons, including digital experiments.
• Updated Assessments - All TYK, QT, post-experiment, and evaluation questions have been updated to reduce plagiarism.

ESL Clients

• More Specimens Available - Based on client feedback, we have increased the number of rock and mineral specimens for students to identify, providing a more rigorous experience.
• Access to the SI Cloud - All the great features of Cloud, including autograding, gradebook, LTI integration, question customization.
• Fully Redesigned Curriculum - Including best practices in instructional design (content chunking, visual engagement, etc.). The new curriculum includes interactives/videos that will increase student engagement and retention.
• New and Updated Experiments - The new curriculum includes a mix of old and new experiments. Old experiments have been updated based on instructor and student feedback to improve outcomes and student experience. New experiments have been added to increase rigor and expand the concepts covered in the lessons.
• Updated Assessments - All new assessments for students to reduce plagiarism.
• Question Customization - Cloud allows for the customization of all questions and data tables, allowing you to customize the course to your standards, as well as prevent plagiarism.

Can we reduce the number of rocks to cut cost?

• No, we purchase the rock and mineral kits pre-built.

What rocks and minerals are included in the SI Geology Kit?

Do you offer digital experiments?

• Yes, we currently have 7 digital lessons available for Geology, with more in development. For the current lessons available digitally, there are no hands-on equivalents.