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Earthworks
Earth System Science for Secondary Teachers
Geology with Technology - Identification of Rocks and locating their exact position using GPS and ArcView
Learning Objective: Students will become familiar with rocks in their area and use technology for exact positions of their rocks.
Where: Samples will be collected within a 5-mile radius of the school.
Who: 9th Grade General Science, 120 students.
When: Fall or Spring (1 week outside classroom collection and in-class analysis and discussion.
Barriers: Number of GPS units, transportation, matching standards.
Strategies: Write a grant for the GPS units or borrow them from Discovery Center. Parents can drive their child's group to locations. Students could bike or walk. Use the check off sheet like Gary!
What:
- A group of 2 students travel 4 places near school.
- Group has plastic bags, GPS, and a topographic map of area.
- For each place, the group:
- Puts a representative rock in a bag.
- Marks the location on the topographic map.
- Creates a landmark on the GPS.
- Group brings bags of rocks to class for identification.
- 2 groups exchange GPS positions with each other.
- Now the group has to go back and try to locate where the other group collected their samples using only the GPS.
- When the group believes they have found the place, they:
- Create a landmark on the GPS unit.
- Pick up a representative rock.
- Plot the position on the topographic map.
- 2 groups get together to tell each other if they went to the same place and collected the same type of rock.
- 2 groups compare
- Rocks
- Topographic maps
- Marked GPS positions.
Extensions:
- Groups enter their GPS data into ArcView to create a map of student sample locations and the type of rock they picked up.
- Students find out exactly how far off they were by revisiting the places and showing each other where they were. Then use tape measure to determine error.
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