Layers in Time, Australia
Summary
The Ediacaran Period, named after the Ediacara Hills of South Australia, is the last geological period of the Neoproterozoic Era immediately preceding the Paleozoic Era. The rocks at this very special site define the beginning or the base of the Ediacaran Period. As a globally recognized reference point in the rock, also known as a "golden spike," it was officially approved in 2004 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, making it the first new time period declared in 120 years!
This is a self-guided virtual field trip.
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Context
Audience
This activity is designed for use in freshman introductory geoscience and life science courses (intro to physical geology, historical geology, paleontology), but can also be used in a wide array of formal and informal educational settings. It is a self-guided virtual field trip (VFT) with free exploration that gives the instructor maximum flexibility to customize the learning outcomes.
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
Students should have some basic knowledge of the geologic time scale, sedimentary rocks, dating of rocks, depositional and glacial processes.
How the activity is situated in the course
This is designed to be a stand-alone activity for students who have some basic knowledge of the geologic time scale, sedimentary rocks, dating of rocks, depositional and glacial processes.
Activity Length
This activity involves free exploration so its duration is set by the teacher. Exploration of this virtual field site with its embedded media, which includes still images, six videos and an interactive gigapixel image, is estimated to take about 30 minutes.
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
In this self-guided VFT, students explore a field site in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia with unique rocks that officially mark the beginning of the newest geologic time period - the Ediacaran Period. The free exploration format of this VFT gives teachers the opportunity to design and customize activity goals to fit their curriculum.
Suggested outcomes could include:
Learning outcome #1: Locate the boundary marker or "golden spike" that marks the base of the Ediacaran Period.
Learning outcome #2: Sketch the two main types of sedimentary rocks that occur at this site and describe how they formed.
Learning outcome #3: Describe how magnetic fields can be used to date rocks.
Learning outcome #4: Explain why this site was chosen as the international marker for the base of the Ediacaran Period.
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Learners explore a virtual environment in South Australia to see the unique rocks of the beginning of the Ediacaran Period. World-famous researcher Dr. Jim Gehling describes how these rocks were formed and why they are so important. Students can sketch and compare the rocks exposed in the dry river bed to those in the outcrop on the hillside. How are these rocks different? What different depositional environments do they represent?
Other skills goals for this activity
Making observations, identify patterns, providing evidence to support reasoning.
Description and Teaching Materials
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.
Assessment
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.
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