Getting Started

Access to Discover Our Earth is through two main windows. The first contains background information and activities. The second is the window that holds the interactive mapping tool QUEST. QUEST allows you to query data sets and make maps. If your screen is large enough, you should position the two windows so that you can see at least part of each one.

Info/Activity Window

This window always has the same menu choices displayed across the top banner. As you move the mouse across the banner, menu bars pop down and then across from each section. Some sections have only one menu choice while others have several choices any of which can be clicked on. This menu system allows you to navigate to virtually any page within this website from every page within the site.

The Discovery Topics pop-down menu appears after mousing over the discovery topics section.

The Discovery Topics section includes five topics, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Topography, Plate Tectonics, Sea Level Change. Each topic includes an overview and one or more Exercise sections. Exercise sections discuss key points pertaining to a topic and are followed up with activities. Although it is possible to select exercise sections in any order, it's often the case that within a topic, one part depends on the previous part, so it is best to navigate them in order, from top to bottom. Many of the activities include exercises that use the interactive mapping tool, QUEST.

The menu bar on the left side of the section page below allows you to navigate within that section. For example, the Plate Tectonics section menu bar accesses each of its exercise sections: Continental Drift, Plate Boundaries, Sea Floor Spreading, Earthquake Depth, and Earthquake Magnitude.

From the Plate Tectonics page you can navigate using either the menu bar on the along the top banner of the page or the links along the left side of the page.

QUEST Window

When you click Launch QUEST, a separate window opens on your screen. The QUEST window has three parts, the Main Menu in the bottom left, the Map History filmstrip on the right-hand side, and the Map Display area filling the center part of the window. Each of these three areas has buttons that allow you to control the views and function of the QUEST module.

Sample QUEST screen; Main Menu buttton on the bottom left, Map History filmstrip on the right-hand side, and the Map Display area in the center.

Main Menu

When making a map, begin by clicking on the MENU button and selecting Map Area. Tthis allows you to choose the part of the world you'd like to display, and lets you select a background on which to draw your map. Below Map Area is the Data Set button (Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Topography). Once you open the Data Set window you can select a data set to view from the pull-down menu. For each of the data sets you to turn the data set on or off, and also allows you to select which parts of the data set you'd like to look at and how you'd like them to look. For example, if you select Earthquakes you may choose earthquakes by date, magnitude, and depth. You can change the color of the data points, or you can display focal mechanisms associated with large earthquakes. Below the data set buttons is a legend that explains the color scale used on the map. When you are ready, press the Get Map button to submit your map request to our server. Typically, you will get a response in 15-45 seconds. If you need help at any time, there is a Help button in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. Make note of the fact that anything you select under the Data Set buttons will remain selected until you change or deselect it and click OK.

Map History and Map Display

The map that you request is displayed in the large window at the center part of the screen, and in one of the small filmstrip windows along the right side of the window. Each subsequent map that you request will fill the Map Display window and will be stored in the Map History filmstrip. A written record of each request that you make is also stored under the Map Details window. To display the map details, click on the Main Menu button and select Map Details. This allows you to see, for example, how many earthquakes you've mapped, what kind of volcanoes, or how much you've changed sea level. The Map History filmstrip keeps track of the maps you've made. By clicking on each box in the filmstrip you can cycle through each different map. If you've made more than six, use the arrow buttons at the top and bottom of the screen to move back and forth through your maps. You can clear maps by selecting them in the filmstrip and then clicking on the trash bin in the lower right corner of the window. In addition to clearing the maps, you can also drag and drop them into any order you'd like. This is handy, in combination with the Mouse Over choice, in that it allows you to animate the maps you've made.

OK, so choose a topic and get started!