This activity is designed for use in freshman introductory geoscience and life science courses (intro to physical geology, historical geology, astrobiology, 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.

Students should have some basic knowledge of the geologic time scale, sedimentary rocks, the elements oxygen and iron, microbes and photosynthesis.

This is designed to be a stand-alone activity to be used after students have some basic knowledge of geologic time scale, sedimentary rocks, the elements oxygen and iron, microbes and photosynthesis.

Activity Length

This activity involves free exploration so its duration is set by the teacher. The virtual field site is divided into four stops. Each stop contains embedded media which includes many still images of the rock outcrops, 32 videos, and an interactive gigapixel image. To go through all the videos at the four stops, it is estimated to take about one hour or two shorter class periods of 30 minutes. Additional time would be needed for the students to answer questions or complete worksheets.

In this self-guided VFT, students explore a spectacular gorge or canyon in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. This area preserves the world's largest iron deposit in rocks called Banded Iron Formation or BIF. 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 evidence of the different scales of banding present in the rocks from this area
Learning outcome #2: Describe how this extensive iron deposit may have formed and what the depositional environment was like
Learning outcome #3: Recall what conditions were necessary for these rocks to form in such vast thicknesses and what this tells us about the early oceans, 2.49 billion years ago
Learning outcome #4: Explain how the evidence of oxygen in the oceans and atmosphere of early Earth can help scientists search for life on other worlds

Learners explore the virtual environments and make observations of a layered iron formation that was deposited 2.49 billion years ago and learn how these rocks are important in the search for life on other worlds.

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.