Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America
Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America
Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America
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7-2 BTH 2 Miller, Kurtz K. [218056]<br />
ANALYZING GLACIAL TILL: AN INQUIRY-BASED PROJECT FOR HIGH SCHOOL EARTH<br />
SCIENCE STUDENTS<br />
MILLER, Kurtz K., Department <strong>of</strong> Teacher Education, University <strong>of</strong> Dayton, 300 College Park,<br />
Chaminade Hall Annex 112P, Dayton, OH 45469, KurtzMiller@yahoo.com and COOK, Alex,<br />
Department <strong>of</strong> Teacher Education, University <strong>of</strong> Dayton, 300 College Park, Chaminade Hall,<br />
Dayton, OH 45469<br />
According to the National Research Council (NRC) by twelfth grade, high school students<br />
should have an understanding <strong>of</strong> the causes <strong>of</strong> ice ages, including details about the Milankovitch<br />
Cycles. High school seniors should also be aware <strong>of</strong> the notion that gradual changes in the<br />
eccentricity <strong>of</strong> the Earth’s orbit, axial tilt, and precession <strong>of</strong> orbit are responsible for orbital forcing<br />
<strong>of</strong> Earth’s global climate. There are a variety <strong>of</strong> ways to teach students about climatic cycles by<br />
using real data, including but not limited to the study <strong>of</strong> ice cores, ocean sediment cores, and<br />
Quaternary glacial deposits. The fact that Quaternary glacial deposits, including glacial till, are<br />
widely distributed throughout much <strong>of</strong> the Midwest make it possible for high school earth science<br />
teachers to instruct students about how glacientic sediments help geologists to interpret climatic<br />
conditions during the Pleistocene. This poster presentation will outline an inquiry-based, glacial till<br />
project conducted <strong>with</strong> junior and senior high school earth science students at the Miami Valley<br />
Career Technology Center (MVCTC) in Clayton, Ohio. Glacial till for the inquiry-based project<br />
was collected from Holes Creek Park, which is part <strong>of</strong> the Centerville-Washington Park District,<br />
Centerville, Ohio. The glacial till, inquiry-based project empowered earth science students to draw<br />
connections between the shape, genesis, and composition <strong>of</strong> till clasts and how the Pleistocene<br />
Ice Sheet moved through the Miami Valley in Southwestern Ohio.<br />
7-3 BTH 3 Barney, Jeffrey A. [218796]<br />
USING SOLID ROCK CORE SAMPLES TO TEACH POROSITY AND PERMEABILITY<br />
BARNEY, Jeffrey A., Mallinson Institutute for Science Education, Western Michigan<br />
University, 6575 N 44th St, Augusta, MI 49012, jeffrey.a.barney@wmich.edu<br />
Teaching science content to K-12 students can be a struggle, especially when student<br />
engagement <strong>with</strong> lesson material is a problem. One way teachers can help engage students<br />
is to use hands-on activities. According to the National Assessment <strong>of</strong> Educational Progress<br />
(NAEP), teachers who regularly conduct hands-on activities in their classrooms report that<br />
their students out perform their peers by more than 40% <strong>of</strong> a grade level in science. At Western<br />
Michigan University we have developed a geology lesson using rock core samples to teach rock<br />
characteristics that are somewhat counterintuitive: porosity and permeability. This activity brings<br />
rock core samples and rock coring tools into the classroom for students to examine. Students<br />
study different types <strong>of</strong> sedimentary rocks and learn how layers <strong>of</strong> these rocks formed as the<br />
Great Lakes Basin experienced repeated cycles <strong>of</strong> flooding and evaporation hundreds <strong>of</strong> millions<br />
<strong>of</strong> years ago. Students also learn how petroleum forms and how oil and gas are found in the pore<br />
spaces <strong>of</strong> some types <strong>of</strong> rocks. Finally, the students are shown a variety <strong>of</strong> sedimentary rock<br />
cores and are tasked <strong>with</strong> determining which core would represent the most likely “host rock” for<br />
petroleum. The students accomplish this by using hand operated air pumps to test the porosity<br />
and permeability <strong>of</strong> the rocks by trying to force air through the core samples. The students use<br />
the results <strong>of</strong> this activity to evaluate a set <strong>of</strong> hypothetical well sites, and then vote to decide<br />
which well site should be developed. This activity teaches identification and formation <strong>of</strong> common<br />
sedimentary rocks and the Paleozoic history <strong>of</strong> the Great Lakes Basin.<br />
7-4 BTH 4 Barone, Steven [218280]<br />
TEACHING PALEOCLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE TO FUTURE TEACHERS: AN ACTION<br />
RESEARCH STUDY<br />
BARONE, Steven, Geosciences Department, Western Michigan University, 1187 Rood Hall,<br />
Kalamazoo, MI 49008, steven.barone@wmich.edu and PETCOVIC, Heather, Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> Geosciences and The Mallinson Institute for Science Education, Western Michigan<br />
University, 1187 Rood Hall, Kalamazoo, MI 49008<br />
The purpose <strong>of</strong> this action research study is to develop and evaluate a sequence <strong>of</strong> four<br />
lessons for an introductory earth science course taken by future elementary teachers. Action<br />
research is a reflective process <strong>of</strong> data collection and analysis used by teachers to improve their<br />
classroom practice. This study’s goal was to produce a series <strong>of</strong> lessons that align <strong>with</strong> the course<br />
philosophy, are effective at improving students’ understanding <strong>of</strong> climate change, and meet the<br />
state requirements for elementary teacher preparation.<br />
The action research cycle began by developing four lessons that follow the course philosophy <strong>of</strong><br />
student-driven learning through guided-inquiry. The first lesson uses a jigsaw teaching approach<br />
in which students create a model <strong>of</strong> the carbon cycle. In the second lesson students design an<br />
experiment to test the effect <strong>of</strong> carbon dioxide on atmospheric temperature and use a computer<br />
animation to further investigate the greenhouse effect. In the third lesson, students use Google<br />
Earth to determine 50-year temperature averages for various cities across the globe. In the fourth<br />
lesson students examine Vostok ice core data to reconstruct a 300,000 year climate record and<br />
its relationship to Milankovitch cycles. Although these lessons are designed for and tested in a<br />
course for future elementary teachers, they could be adapted to other settings as well (e.g. high<br />
school, college non-majors earth science courses).<br />
The action research cycle continued <strong>with</strong> lesson implementation, data collection, analysis/<br />
reflection, and revision <strong>of</strong> the lessons. Three data sets were used to evaluate the lessons:<br />
1) student knowledge gains on an objective pre- and post-test, 2) students’ self-reported<br />
confidence <strong>with</strong> the lesson content, and 3) classroom observations to monitor lesson<br />
implementation. Data analysis in the spring 2012 and fall 2012 semesters revealed that<br />
students were able to identify natural mechanisms that cause climate to change, distinguish<br />
between weather and climate, and identify greenhouse gases as contributing to global warming.<br />
However, they struggled <strong>with</strong> interpreting graphs and identifying how natural processes affect the<br />
concentration <strong>of</strong> carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. These results guide changes for future lesson<br />
implementation to complete the action research study.<br />
SESSION NO. 8, 8:00 AM<br />
Thursday, 2 May 2013<br />
Paleontology (Posters)<br />
Schneider Hall, Courtyard<br />
SESSION NO. 8<br />
8-1 BTH 5 Johnson, Daryl [218745]<br />
SIZE-FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION AND TAPHONOMY OF BRACHIOPODA FROM THE<br />
HUGHES CREEK SHALE (CARBONIFEROUS) OF SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA<br />
JOHNSON, Daryl, WULF, Shane, and HANGER, Rex, Geography & Geology, University <strong>of</strong><br />
Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI 53190, JohnsonDG22@uww.edu<br />
The Hughes Creek Shale Member <strong>of</strong> the Foraker Formation (Carboniferous) in Richardson<br />
County, Nebraska contains a diverse and abundant open-marine fauna. Species <strong>of</strong> the Phylum<br />
Brachiopoda dominate, although crinoids and bryozoans are also common, while corals,<br />
gastropods, trilobites and shark teeth are rare. Two Rhynchonelliform species, the pedunculate<br />
Spiriferinid, Hustedia mormoni, and the free-living Strophomenate Dyoros sp., were studied<br />
in greater detail as proxy for taphonomy <strong>of</strong> the entire fauna. Standard length and width<br />
measurement was supplemented <strong>with</strong> articulation ratios as well as qualitative categorizations <strong>of</strong><br />
corrasion, fragmentation and epibiont coverage for all individuals <strong>of</strong> the target species. Preliminary<br />
results include: skewed size frequency distributions for both <strong>with</strong> most juveniles absent; high<br />
(>95%) articulation for H. mormoni, and moderate (~50%) for D. sp.; low levels <strong>of</strong> corrasion<br />
and epibiont coverage suggesting short seafloor residence times; and low fragmentation,<br />
mostly splayed. These results contrast strongly for all taphonomic metrics for the most common<br />
brachiopod species <strong>of</strong> the fauna (e.g. Neospirifer kansasensis, Reticulatia huecoensis)., which<br />
also are the largest members <strong>of</strong> the fauna.<br />
8-2 BTH 6 Day, Jed [218516]<br />
EARLY CARBONIFEROUS (EARLIEST TOURNAISIAN-KINDERHOOKIAN) BRACHIOPOD<br />
AND CONODONT FAUNAS OF THE “ELLSWORTH” MEMBER OF THE NEW ALBANY SHALE,<br />
ILLINOIS BASIN, SOUTHERN INDIANA<br />
DAY, Jed, Geography & Geology, Illinois State Univ, Normal, IL 61790-4400, jeday@ilstu.edu,<br />
EVANS, Scott D., Geology, State University <strong>of</strong> New York at Geneseo, Geneseo, NY 14454,<br />
OVER, D. Jeffrey, <strong>Geological</strong> Sciences, S.U.N.Y. Geneseo, Geneseo, NY 14454-1401,<br />
HASENMUELLER, Nancy R., Indiana <strong>Geological</strong> Survey, Indiana University, 611 North<br />
Walnut Grove Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, and LEONARD, Andrea M., Geography &<br />
Geology, Illinois State University, 2377 24th St, Moline, IL 61265<br />
The upper New Albany Shale in southern Indiana consists <strong>of</strong> the Jacob’s Chapel, Henryville,<br />
Underwood, and Falling Run beds <strong>with</strong>in the upper Clegg Creek Member and the “Ellsworth”<br />
Member. The conodont fauna from the upper Clegg Creek Member below the Falling Run Bed<br />
and “Ellsworth” Member includes Bispathodus aculeatus aculeatus, Branmehla bohlenana,<br />
Br. inornata, Cryptotaxis culminidirecta, Palmatolepis glabra ssp., Pa. gracilis gracilis, and<br />
Protognathodus sp. This fauna is latest Famennian (uppermost Devonian praesulcata Zone). The<br />
“Ellsworth” Member at a roadcut exposure near Rockford, Indiana (locality 9 <strong>of</strong> Huddle, along US<br />
Alt. 31, now covered) is the type locality for the lost holotype <strong>of</strong> conodont Siphonodella sulcata.<br />
The gray-green brachiopod-bearing shale noted by Huddle at the type locality <strong>of</strong> Si. sulcata is<br />
the “Ellsworth” Member, which in Indiana Survey Drill Hole 324, eight km northwest <strong>of</strong> Huddle<br />
locality 9, contains specimens <strong>of</strong> Bispathodus, Branmehla, Polygnathus communis communis,<br />
and Si. sulcata. This fauna is correlated <strong>with</strong> the lowest Carboniferous sulcata Zone. At the US<br />
Highway 31 roadcut, sulcata Zone conodonts occur in association <strong>with</strong> a brachiopod fauna<br />
originally described by Huddle that includes:Subglobosochonetes seymorensis, Rhipidomella<br />
newalbaniensis, Schuchertella sp., Rhynchopora prisca, and Sphenospira sp. cf. S. alta. In the<br />
Indiana Survey Drill Hole 324 core, brachiopod assemblages in the lower half <strong>of</strong> the “Ellsworth”<br />
are comprised almost entirely <strong>of</strong> S. seymorensis, <strong>with</strong> moderately diverse assemblages <strong>with</strong><br />
S. seymorensis, R. prisca and R. newalbaniensis in the upper half below the Henryville Bed.<br />
None <strong>of</strong> the brachiopod species recovered from the “Ellsworth” fauna <strong>of</strong> southeastern Indiana are<br />
known to carryover from older Famennian (praesulcata Zone) strata in the region, although older<br />
related species <strong>of</strong> Rhynchopora, Ripidomella, and Schuchertella occur in the latest Famennian<br />
carbonate platform fauna <strong>of</strong> the Louisiana Limestone <strong>of</strong> Illinois and Missouri. The “Ellsworth”<br />
brachiopod fauna is similar to the earliest-early Tournaisian fauna described from the Glen Park<br />
Formation <strong>of</strong> western Illinois Basin in Illinois and eastern Missouri that also yields conodonts <strong>of</strong><br />
the sulcata Zone.<br />
8-3 BTH 7 Smrecak, Trisha A. [218374]<br />
COMPARING SCLEROBIONT COVERAGE OF RAFINESQUINA ALTERNATA IN<br />
HARDGROUND AND SOFT-BOTTOM SUBSTRATE SETTINGS IN THE CINCINNATI ARCH<br />
REGION (CINCINNATIAN, UPPER ORDOVICIAN)<br />
SMRECAK, Trisha A., Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48906,<br />
smrecakt@msu.edu<br />
Sclerobionts are more sensitive indicators <strong>of</strong> paleoenvironmental changes than host<br />
shell substrates upon which they encrust (Lescinsky, 1995). Recent work has established<br />
sclerobi<strong>of</strong>acies on the host brachiopod Rafinesquina as an independent bathymetric proxy in<br />
s<strong>of</strong>t bottom substrates in the Lt. Ordovician Cincinnati Arch region (Smrecak, 2008; Brett, et al.,<br />
2012). Metrics used to establish the sclerobi<strong>of</strong>acies were applied to bionts on deployed shells <strong>of</strong>f<br />
the coast <strong>of</strong> Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas (Brett, et al., 2011) <strong>with</strong> high agreement, suggesting<br />
that aspects <strong>of</strong> sclerobiont coverage may vary predictably <strong>with</strong> depth through geologic time.<br />
However, as sessile, filter feeding organisms, sclerobionts are also highly susceptible to the influx<br />
<strong>of</strong> sedimentation (Mistiaen, et al., 2011). This work compares sclerobiont suites encrusting on<br />
Rafinesquina cemented in a hardground (Meyer, 1990, Shroat-Lewis, 2011) <strong>with</strong> those found<br />
on the same hosts in shallow euphotic zone s<strong>of</strong>t bottom samples in the Maysvillian (Grant Lake<br />
Fm., Bellevue and Mt. Auburn Mbrs.), and similar environments in the Richmondian (see Vogel<br />
and Brett, 2009). Hardgrounds are formed by in situ substrate lithification during times <strong>of</strong> low<br />
sedimentation, frequently during widespread marine transgressions (Brett, et al., 2011; Cornell,<br />
et al., 2004), while s<strong>of</strong>t-bottom substrates reflect a more consistent influx <strong>of</strong> sediment. Metrics<br />
including richness, areal coverage, occurrence, and encrustation frequency are used to evaluate<br />
sclerobiont suites in hardground and s<strong>of</strong>t bottom samples to discern how sedimentation rate<br />
impacts sclerobiont encrustation. Preliminary analysis suggests low sedimentation rate dampens<br />
the areal coverage <strong>of</strong> host shells significantly (from an average <strong>of</strong> 18%/shell (STD 9.36) in s<strong>of</strong>tbottom<br />
substrates to 7% in the hardground setting). Sclerobiont richness in the hardground<br />
sample was higher than s<strong>of</strong>t bottom substrate samples, <strong>with</strong> 3 taxa, including edrioasteroids,<br />
2013 GSA North-Central Section Meeting 9