Como Lake Park Virtual Fieldwork Experience

1. Como Lake Park Virtual Fieldwork Experience • Provided by ReaL Earth System Science • http://virtualfieldwork.org/ • & • http://teacherfriendlyguide.org/ • Adapted from work by Sarah R. Miller

2. Connect to Big Ideas & Overarching Questions • The next slide offers one (carefully developed) take on what are the most important ideas to understand about Earth. • For more on big ideas and overarching questions, see: http://virtualfieldwork.org/Big_Ideas.html

3. Earth System Science Profound Ideas

4. VFEs Are Question Driven These questions are important too! • Ultimately, we want learners to be able to read the landscape: by looking at it’s shape, and the rocks and other materials that compose and move through it, a story can be unearthed. • “Why does this place look the way it does” is the driving question for the project. • Sub-questions vary in size, scale and purpose. Some questions may have a one or two word answer, but those questions should be followed with questions of how we know and what those simple answers imply. • For all of these questions: • How do you know? (What evidence is there?) • What does it tell you about past environments? • What does it imply about the future?

5. Are there mountains, valleys, or hills? • What are the valley shapes? • What can form valleys? • What can cause mountains or hills to form? • Are the mountains or hills young or old? • What role do tectonics play in shaping the site? Why does this place look the way it does? What effects has life, including human life, had on the landscape? Describe the shape of the land. • For all of these questions: • How do you know? (What evidence is there?) • What does it tell you about past environments? • What does it imply about the future? What types of rock are there? • How have plants shaped the landscape? • How have animals generally, and humans in particular, changed the landscape? • On what scale? What effects has water had on the landscape? Do the rocks seem to form a sequence? What effect has the climate had on the landscape? • Sediments & Sedimentary Rocks • Is it clastic or organic/chemical? • If clastic, what is the grain size? • If organic, what minerals is it made out of? • Are there fossils? • Is water depositing material, eroding material, or both? • Is the action of water primarily chemical, primarily physical, or both chemical and physical? • Metamorphic • Is it foliated or non-foliated? • What was the parent rock? • Igneous • Did the rock form above or below ground? • Is it felsic or mafic? • Where would you find the oldest rocks? • Youngest rocks? • Are there different kinds of rocks at different outcrops? • Was the past climate different? • What factors may have been affected or caused by climate?

6. What effects has water had on the landscape? • Is water depositing material, eroding material, or both? • Is the action of water primarily chemical, primarily physical, or both chemical and physical?

7. Undermined tree 1

8. Undermined tree 2

9. Describe the shape of the land. • What can cause mountains or hills to form? • Are the mountains or hills young or old? • What is the valley’s shape? • What can form valleys? • What is the role of plate tectonics in shaping the land?

10. Describe the shape of the land. a bc

11. Describe the shape of the land. a b c

12. Describe the shape of the land. ab c Dhmr: Marcellus Formation (Middle Devonian) [Detailed description] Marcellus Formation - Pecksport, Solsville, Otsego, and Chittenango shale and sandstone Members, Cherry Valley Limestone, and Union Springs Shale Members.

13. What do you think the climate is like here? Why? • What factors influence the climate? • Identify features shaped or determined by climate. • Was the past climate different? How can you tell? • How is climate change likely to affect this place?

14. What types of rock are there? • A common question for all rock types: • What do the characteristics of the rock tell you about past environments? • Many field sites have only one of these three types of rocks. • Sedimentary • Is it clastic or organic/chemical? • If clastic, what is the grain size? • If organic, what minerals is it made out of? • Are there fossils? • What do the rocks indicate about past environments? Chart of common rock textures • Igneous • Did the rock form above or below ground? • Is it felsic or mafic? • Metamorphic • Is it foliated or non-foliated? • What was the parent rock?

18. Common Rock Textures Chart by Jim Ebert, SUNY Oneonta

19. What types of rock are there?Metamorphic

20. What types of rock are there?Igneous

21. What types of rock are there?Sedimentary • Sedimentary • Is it clastic or organic/chemical? • If clastic, what is the grain size? • If organic, what minerals is it made out of? • Are there fossils? • What do rock characteristics tell you about past environments? Scheme for Sedimentary Rock ID

22. What types of rock are there?Sedimentary

23. Do the rocks seem to form a sequence? • Where would you find the oldest rocks? • Youngest rocks? • Are there different kinds of rocks at different outcrops?

24. What effects has life, including human life, had on the landscape? • On what scale? • Were the human impacts on the site done intentionally or were they done without thinking about consequences?

25. What effects have humans had on the landscape?

26. Como Park Lake & Dam

27. Explore Como Lake Park in Google Earth. • Why did I choose Como Lake Park? • Download resources here: • virtualfieldwork.org/Template.html

28. Suggestions for improvement are welcome! • There’s ample room for improvement! • Please send suggestions for additions and other improvements, including suggested photos of the Como Lake Park, to: • Don Duggan-Haas at: dugganhaas@museumoftheearth.org.

29. Suggestions that haven’t been worked in as yet... • What would this place look like if ______________ (some process or event) hadn’t happened? • Please send suggestions for additions and other improvements, including suggested photos of the Como Lake Park, to: • Don Duggan-Haas at: dugganhaas@museumoftheearth.org.