Please respond to [log in to unmask] if you're interested, not to the list
Hi All,
I designed a teaching tool for geoscience courses such as structural
geology and field mapping and methods. The dry-erase cube is a 10 cm
cube made of a white opaque high-density plastic that can be drawn on
with dry- or wet-erase markers, and easily be cleaned. I initially
designed them to help the students draw block diagrams, but once I
started using the twelve blocks I had made by our machine shop I found
many more applications (see description at the end of the email or
sources indicated below). They really help the students develop their
three-dimensional thinking skills and they greatly improve the
fun-factor of courses and labs for the students.
By now I have found a manufacturer and Boston College is willing to help
me with the distribution. At this stage I need to know how many of them
I need to have made, so I can make them available to you.
The dry-erase cube are currently being published in the newest issue of JGE:
Kuiper, Y.D., 2008. The dry-erase cube: making three-dimensional
visualization easy. Journal of Geoscience Education v. 56, n. 3, May,
2008, 261–268.
and you can look at them on my website:
http://www2.bc.edu/~kuipery/
(scroll down to publications and click on AGU poster)
The ones I am having made will not have any screws as the ones on the
pictures. The price should be no more than $15 per cube (plus shipping
from Boston College to you). I know you're thinking that's expensive (I
was thinking it), but the material itself is expensive and it includes
import, export, taxes and other fees we might have to pay (still working
on that). Furthermore, they last pretty well forever so this is a good
investment for many years to come.
Assuming that they'll be $15 per cube, can you please let me know if
you're interested in buying them, and if so, how many? I recommend that
you have as many cubes as you have students in your class, so that every
student can use a cube, and not less than eight cubes (so you can draw a
map on top of four cubes arranged in a square, draw cross sections on
the sides, and add an additional layer on top for the next level of map
and cross sections; this would be a group exercise). However, for people
with big classes and/or small budgets you can always have several
students share a cube or cubes. Even one cube would serve demonstration
purposes is you need to. (Imagine though how many cross sections you
could draw for a map drawn on top of 100 cubes :-) )
If you're interested, please email me ([log in to unmask]) the number of
cubes you'd want to order.
By responding to this email you are not yet committed, but please give
me a number that is as accurate as possible so that I don't over- or
under- estimate the numbers too much.
All for now. To be continued...
Yvette
A cube made of white opaque high-density plastic, which serves as dry-
(or wet-) erase material, makes teaching and learning three-dimensional
geology much easier and fun. Maps, cross sections and block diagrams can
be drawn (and erased!) and seen in three dimensions, and compared with
their two-dimensional projections on paper. For example, the cubes are
very useful for teaching the concept of apparent dips, which is
essential in the construction of cross sections and block diagrams, and
is confusing to many students. Plotting apparent dips on block diagrams
is especially difficult, because of the distortion caused by the
projection. The dry-erase cube provides an intermediate step. Students
can first draw the actual apparent dip on the cube and subsequently
construct the same angle on the projection of the block on paper. This
can be made especially easy if the edges of the cube have the same
length as the edges of an isometric block diagram on paper, so that they
can simply be lined up.
Several dry-erase cubes can be placed adjacent and on top of each other,
so that multiple levels of maps, and parallel and perpendicular cross
sections can be constructed. The relationship between maps and cross
sections is then clearly visible. The cubes are also an aid in the
understanding of stereographic projections, because structural data can
be made visible as three-dimensional planes and lines before they are
plotted. The dry-erase cubes are not only useful for geoscience
teachers, but or anyone teaching or dealing with geometries and block
diagrams, e.g. engineers and mathematicians, geologists in the petroleum
or mining industries, hydrologists and K-12 teachers.
Yvette D. Kuiper
Assistant Professor
Department of Geology and Geophysics
Boston College
Devlin Hall 213
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA
02467 USA
Tel. 617-552-3647
Fax. 617-552-2462
http://www2.bc.edu/~kuipery/
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