Kristen St. John

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2005 Earth Science AcademyInvestigating Marine
Earth

• Kristen St. John
• James Madison University

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The Earth Operates as a System.
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Show me the money!
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Show me more real world examples of earth
system interactions!
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A big picture example of earth system
interactions

• This example will emerge naturally by answering
  the question
• Did the uplift of the Himalayan Mountains and
  Tibetan Plateau cause the Indian Monsoons to
  become more intense?

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(No Transcript)
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Introduction to The Ocean Drilling Program

• The worlds largest basic research program in
  earth and ocean sciences
• Watch Windows to the Past Discovering Earths
  Future

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What is a core?

• As particles eroded from land, erupted from
  volcanoes, or derived from sea life (fossils),
  settle out of the water, they form mixed
  composition layers on the bottom of the ocean.
• The ocean sediments have been accumulating on the
  sea floor, with the oldest on the bottom and the
  youngest on the top, since the formation of the
  ocean basin.
• A core is a cylinder of this sediment (or rock)
  removed by drilling the subsurface sea floor.

173-1069A-9R-3, 67-94 cm.
173-1069A-10R-3, 129149 cm.
http//www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/173_IR/VOLUME
/CHAPTERS/CHAP_08.PDF
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What can you learn from core samples?

• Climate change sediments on the seafloor record
  changes in earths climate
• Plate tectonics Determining the ages of
  different parts of the ocean floor and examining
  the rocks beneath has helped marine geologists
  reconstruct the history of movement of tectonic
  plates and their embedded continents.
• Energy resources On the sea floor and below lie
  sources of energy, including petroleum and frozen
  methane deposits.
• Evolutionary biology the microfossil record in
  the sediments contains vivid examples of the
  evolution of life on earth.

From Out to Sea, Teachers Guide, ODP 2004
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What can you learn from core samples?

• The answer to the question
• Did the uplift of the Himalayan Mountains and
  Tibetan Plateau cause the Indian Monsoons to
  become more intense?

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How are you going to answer it?

• ODP Mountains to Monsoons Interactive CD activity
• Take on the role of a researcher on board the
  JOIDES Resolution
• Assist with marine sediment sample analysis and
  interpretation
• Paleomagnetics
• Sedimentology
• Micropaleontology (2)
• Climatology

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How is this activity relevant to middle school
science?

• Brings real world investigations into the
  classroom You too can do science!
• Integrates technology in science
• Models the nature of scientific investigation
• Strand Scientific Investigation, Reasoning,
  Logic
• Essential Content Knowledge
• Standard 6.3 Ocean-Atmosphere circulation

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• Before you begin
• Teachers manual
• Worksheet
• As you proceed
• Take Notes
• After you are done
• Reflect on each research assignment
• What is the question being addressed?
• What scientific methods are used to address it?
• What are the results you collected?
• How are these results interpreted?
• Explain how you chose the final drill site.
• Sketch and describe a time line of geologic
  events.
• Show how plate tectonic motion caused mountain
  uplift, which caused the monsoons to intensify.
• How is this relationship a good example of earth
  system interactions?