Students should be able to make field observations and be familiar with geologic time scale, igneous and sedimentary rocks, relative age dating, basic chemical elements (oxygen, hydrogen, iron).

This is designed to be a stand-alone activity to be used after students have some basic knowledge of the geologic time scale, igneous and sedimentary rocks, relative age dating, basic chemical elements (oxygen, hydrogen, iron).

Activity Length

This virtual field trip contains a guided adaptive learning lab. Exploration of the virtual field site and completion of the lab (with associated videos, images and interactive gigapixel images) is estimated to take about 1 hour.

In this self-guided VFT, students explore field sites in Western Australia to look for some of the earliest evidence preserved on Earth that microbes were photosynthesizing and producing oxygen around 3.5 billion years ago. The free exploration of the VFT gives teachers the opportunity to design and customize activity goals to fit their curricula.

Suggested outcomes could include:
Learning outcome #1: Identify features in the sedimentary rocks that indicate sediments were deposited in a deep ocean basin
Learning outcome #2: Explain how the dramatic color banding of these sedimentary rocks was formed and what it tells us about geologic processes that took place
Learning outcome #3: Recall how some features in tilted rocks can be used to determine the original orientation of the rocks
Learning outcome #4: Describe why some rocks are red and what this means about the Earth's early atmosphere

Learners interpret evidence in the rocks of Marble Bar that indicates early microbes in the oceans may have been producing oxygen that was reacting with sediments to give them a red color.

Making observations, identify patterns, providing evidence to support reasoning.

This activity is accessible at https://vft.asu.edu/ through the Center for Education Through eXploration (https://etx.asu.edu/) at Arizona State University. They build adaptive digital learning experiences for K-12 education that engage learners in virtual environments and bring Earth and space science to life.

Technology Needs

Real-time Internet access is required to view this VFT. We recommend the use of the browsers Google Chrome or Firefox for the best results. It is not optimized for viewing on mobile devices.

There are no embedded assessments associated with this self-guided VFT and it is up to the teacher to design an assessment tool to meet whatever learning outcomes they specify. Students can be asked to answer an essay question explaining some aspect of the VFT experience.