Geologic Field Investigation: Investigating Coastal Features of Western Lake Superior, Inferring Possibilities of their Origins
Summary
In this Geologic Field Investigation, students will investigate the coastal geologic features of the Twin Points/Iona's Beach Minnesota State Wayside of Lake Superior and develop inferences on the origins of the current coastal features. Students will be divided into three groups so that each feature two beaches, a northern headland, and a southern headland that will be thoroughly investigated. Each group will be responsible for its respective area's data collection (video, photos, rock sample collections, science journals, and lab sheets). Groups will be encouraged to develop as many possible origins of the coastal features using what they know about the rock cycle and local northeastern Minnesota Geomorphology. Each group will be required to choose the two possibilities they feel most strongly about and present these on-site. Finally, each group will present its findings and inferences to the rest of the students back in the Earth Science classroom, as well as a final presentation to an audience of parents, school staff and community members.
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Learning Goals
This activity is designed for students to develop or further develop geologic field investigation skills through the inquiry process.
Using inquiry, students will develop investigable questions inspired by the unique geologic features in the field.
The higher-order thinking skills that students will use during this investigation are: critical thinking, data analysis, and synthesis of ideas.
Other skills this field investigation is designed to develop are: detailed observation of geologic features, questioning how the geologic features were formed, operating scientific instruments in the process of investigation and data collection, writing up a quality lab sheet, and presenting findings to an audience of peers and possibly parents and school staff.
Key Concepts:
1. The materials (rocks and bedrock), which make up the coastal features of western Lake Superior, are mostly volcanic in origin.
2. The coastal features of western Lake Superior clearly show that different Earth materials (rocks, bedrock) weather and erode differentially.
3. The coastal features of western Lake Superior are constantly being shaped and altered by weathering and erosional forces.
Vocabulary:
-Rhyolite
-Basalt
-Vesicals
-Headland
-Differential erosion
Using inquiry, students will develop investigable questions inspired by the unique geologic features in the field.
The higher-order thinking skills that students will use during this investigation are: critical thinking, data analysis, and synthesis of ideas.
Other skills this field investigation is designed to develop are: detailed observation of geologic features, questioning how the geologic features were formed, operating scientific instruments in the process of investigation and data collection, writing up a quality lab sheet, and presenting findings to an audience of peers and possibly parents and school staff.
Key Concepts:
1. The materials (rocks and bedrock), which make up the coastal features of western Lake Superior, are mostly volcanic in origin.
2. The coastal features of western Lake Superior clearly show that different Earth materials (rocks, bedrock) weather and erode differentially.
3. The coastal features of western Lake Superior are constantly being shaped and altered by weathering and erosional forces.
Vocabulary:
-Rhyolite
-Basalt
-Vesicals
-Headland
-Differential erosion
Context for Use
This field investigation would be appropriate for grade levels 8 and higher. This investigation can be used as an introduction to an erosion or geomorphology unit, in which case the major emphasis might be to develop science observation skills and inquiry, and no prior conceptual knowledge is necessary. I plan on using this investigation as an end of my erosion and local geomorphology unit with an emphasis on using skills and concepts learned in the classroom to interpret coastal features in the field. Besides logistical prepping to be done prior to the investigation, the investigation will all be done within one visit, lasting approximately 3 to 4 hours on-site, and will include presentations done after the investigation.
This site for this field investigation can hold a large number of students and teachers without problem. However, I feel to get the most out of this investigation I will take only ten students from each of my three Earth Science classes (30 students). I will have three groups divided into three areas of the site. The students I will take will be determined through an application process. Students will not only have to apply but will have to maintain a reasonable grade and attendance status in my class throughout the year prior to the investigation.
I will provide each student with a magnetic compass and some other form of a magnet. Each group will have access to hand lenses and or magnifying glasses, a dissecting microscope, meter sticks, centimeter rulers, metric measuring tape, a digital camera with video capabilities, clipboards, and other tools to encourage detailed observation and data collection, and a map of the site.
Logistics:
The Twin Points/Iona's Beach area is a State wayside and Natural Scientific Area managed by the Minnesota DNR. This is an outdoor setting with minimal services so proper planning and prepping of the students is a necessity. Students need to be well dressed for the weather and be ready for sudden changed in temperature and conditions. Besides the vehicle that will bring you to the site, there is no shelter available at this site in the case of a storm. There are two Porta-Potties, one handicap accessible, currently at the site. There is no running water available on site so bringing drinking water is a must (require that students bring one to two personal water bottles and also plan on bringing at least five gallons of drinking water besides, depending on your numbers). I plan on stopping at Gooseberry Falls State Park (five minutes south) after the field investigation for a bathroom break and to let the students shop the gift shop. Depending on time, a quick added lesson may take place at the falls.
Gooseberry Falls State Park also provides a Plan B if weather goes bad. There are plenty of things to see and do at the Park's main building and a quick excursion to the falls might be more feasible during poor weather. The park rangers may also provide presentations, games, etc. I would definitely set up a Plan B with the park ahead of time.
This activity could be adapted fairly easily for another site on any coast that has headland and beach features. However, the major reason I chose this particular site was because it is not heavily visited. It is a little known and minimally used section of Lake Superior coast that provides great beaches, one very unique, and headlands composed of basalt flows.
This site for this field investigation can hold a large number of students and teachers without problem. However, I feel to get the most out of this investigation I will take only ten students from each of my three Earth Science classes (30 students). I will have three groups divided into three areas of the site. The students I will take will be determined through an application process. Students will not only have to apply but will have to maintain a reasonable grade and attendance status in my class throughout the year prior to the investigation.
I will provide each student with a magnetic compass and some other form of a magnet. Each group will have access to hand lenses and or magnifying glasses, a dissecting microscope, meter sticks, centimeter rulers, metric measuring tape, a digital camera with video capabilities, clipboards, and other tools to encourage detailed observation and data collection, and a map of the site.
Logistics:
The Twin Points/Iona's Beach area is a State wayside and Natural Scientific Area managed by the Minnesota DNR. This is an outdoor setting with minimal services so proper planning and prepping of the students is a necessity. Students need to be well dressed for the weather and be ready for sudden changed in temperature and conditions. Besides the vehicle that will bring you to the site, there is no shelter available at this site in the case of a storm. There are two Porta-Potties, one handicap accessible, currently at the site. There is no running water available on site so bringing drinking water is a must (require that students bring one to two personal water bottles and also plan on bringing at least five gallons of drinking water besides, depending on your numbers). I plan on stopping at Gooseberry Falls State Park (five minutes south) after the field investigation for a bathroom break and to let the students shop the gift shop. Depending on time, a quick added lesson may take place at the falls.
Gooseberry Falls State Park also provides a Plan B if weather goes bad. There are plenty of things to see and do at the Park's main building and a quick excursion to the falls might be more feasible during poor weather. The park rangers may also provide presentations, games, etc. I would definitely set up a Plan B with the park ahead of time.
This activity could be adapted fairly easily for another site on any coast that has headland and beach features. However, the major reason I chose this particular site was because it is not heavily visited. It is a little known and minimally used section of Lake Superior coast that provides great beaches, one very unique, and headlands composed of basalt flows.
Description and Teaching Materials
Twin Points/Iona's Beach State Natural and Scientific Area is located at milepost 42 on Minnesota Highway 61 of Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior. The drive takes approximately one hour and ten minutes from Morgan Park Middle School or about 55 minutes from the northern edge of Duluth. There are no services provided at the site except two porta-potties (one handicap accessible). The site is not necessarily handicap accessible, however, adaptations to this investigation can be made if needed. (A wheelchair could easily make it to the fringe of one of the beaches.) A 'Plan B' or alternative site in case of very poor weather will be Gooseberry Falls State Park just five minutes to the south. This site was chosen with careful consideration including finding an easily accessible stretch of shoreline that provides great beaches and two headlands in one spot. This site is also not heavily visited so there will not be crowding or added distractions for the students.
The field investigation will be introduced as an extra-curricular option to my Earth Science classes very early in the school year. The students will be informed that the investigation will encompass various aspects, concepts, vocabulary, skills, and investigative cooperation which all of my students will learn and develop throughout the year. Students will also learn that in order to be considered for the field investigation which is slated for late April, they must submit an application (which includes an essay on why they will make a great geologic field investigator), show great enthusiasm and work ethic in my class, and maintain a reasonable grade average (at least a C) and attendance throughout the year. Ten students from each of my 3 Earth Science classes will be taken on this investigation.
The student logistical preparation for the investigation will be conducted through two after school meetings. During these meetings the students will learn what materials they will be using, what the general layout of the site is, what behavior and learning outcomes will be expected of them, and what to bring and how to dress for the investigation.
The students' conceptual and academic preparation will be done throughout the school year prior to the investigation. The students will not receive any more information of concepts or otherwise than the rest of the students who will not be going on the investigation. It is important that they use the skills and concepts presented within my classroom and are not presented anything new or additional prior to the investigation, this will help with the students having a truly minimally guided, inquiry-driven investigation.
Once the students arrive at the field site, they will divide themselves into three groups based on their respective class sections. Each group will be given the following materials:
- Map of the field site outlining all three areas the investigation will be focusing on and each group's map will have the area(s) highlighted that they are assigned to.
- A magnetic compass for each student
- Additional magnets
- 5 Hand lenses and or magnifying glasses
- 5 pocket microscopes (30x)
- 1 dissecting microscope
- metric measuring tools (meter stick, centimeter ruler, metric measuring tape)
- calculators
- one camera with video capabilities
- sample bags (if I get permission from the DNR to collect samples)
- 5 clipboards, field journals, multiple writing utensils
- two copies of the field investigation lab sheet
*Five copies of Mark Sparky Stensaas' book Rock Picker's Guide to Lake Superior's North Shore will be handed out to each group after the group has had observation time and after their investigable questions have been created *
I would highly recommend having all of these materials ready and separated into three boxes prior to the investigation to save time and chaos.
Groups will then make their way to their respective areas and one person will read the Field Investigation Topic Question: What geological forces are responsible for creating and changing this section of Lake Superior coastline, and what evidence can we see of these forces?
After the topic question is read, the students are to pair up with their field partners (set up ahead of time) and spend approximately 20 minutes exploring and observing their designated area. The group assigned to the two beach areas will have to split time between both beaches during this observation time. The students are to record their initial observations and any questions that they may formulate about what they observe. There are no pictures to be taken at this time.
I will then float from group to group to listen to some of the observations made and any questions they have formulated. Using the guidance of their inquiries, I will help the groups further develop questions that are investigable using the tools they have including their senses.
After meeting with each group they will have about 40 minutes to collect data using the tools they were given and each field partnership is responsible for recording this in their field journals. One group will have the unique responsibility of making sure the camera is available to all who need it or the group may decide that one partnership be in charge of taking all pictures and video.
The following is a list of possible observations the groups may make (not limited to this list):
Beaches Group (this group will be responsible for two beach areas): Northern beach is composed almost entirely (~95%) of a pink colored rock (rhyolite); beach shows very well-defined steps or terraces; rocks on this beach are varied from this size ______ to this size_____; there is a large cliff to the north of this beach that looks to be composed of the same rock as this beach; the beach is contained by the cliff to the north and by a headland to the south; the headland is composed of a dark gray rock (basalt); this beach does not stick out as far as the cliffs and the headlands
Southern Beach is composed of quite a variety of rocks including the pink rock seen at Northern beach; this beach has material ranging from sand size to boulders; some of the sand on this beach is attracted by a magnet; some of the rocks on this beach do not match the types of rocks found on the northern beach and also don't look like any other rocks in this site; all the rocks on this beach are at different stages of smoothness and roundness; there are two large boulders that really stick out like sore thumbs on this beach, they are quite different; there is an outcrop of possibly a volcanic rock with lots of vesicles and amygdules; there is another outcrop of a dark rock at the southern edge of the beach that looks similar to the rock that makes up the southern headland.
Northern Headland Group: the whole point seems to be made of the same type of gray-colored rock; there are interesting places in the rock that are crumbly and have spherical shapes; the headland sticks out quite far compared to either of the beaches but about the same as the southern headland; there are three large boulders on the topmost part of the headland that are not the same type of rock as the headland and are quite rounded and smooth; there is a large crack in the headland towards the north where Lake Superior actually fills in and seems to have a little cave; the top of the headland is ____ meters above the water; the rock that makes the headland has very little to no vesicles, there are cracks in the rock that makes up the headland and in some cracks there is a reddish sediment or rock; there is a place where the headland seems to be crumbly or rotten
Southern Headland Group: this group should have much of the same observations as the Northern Headland Group with these additions... this point seems to have an upper and a lower section; the lower section is made of similar rock as the upper section but is visibly darker than the upper section; there is a shelf or undermined crack in between the upper and lower sections; there are many fractures or cracks in certain section of this headland; there are white spots on some parts of the rock of the headland; there are a lot of red colors and swirls in the rock on parts of this headland.
After the 40 minutes of observations and question gathering we will break for lunch. Lunch will be near the top of the southern headland with a view of the two headlands and the southern beach. I will give the students time to eat and relax, then direct their discussions towards their observations and findings of the morning. They will first discuss with each other in small groups of 6, 2 students from each area group, then the discussion will turn to a full-group with each area group describing their areas and some of their findings.
After lunch each group will return to their areas and develop ideas on how their area was created, where the materials (rocks, other) of their area came from, and what geologic forces created and maybe changed or are in the process of changing their areas. I will be bouncing from group to group to make sure that groups are on-task and creating at least two, hopefully more, possible explanations to the origins of their respective coastal features. This should last 30 to 40 minutes and the groups will pick their best, favorite, most creative origin explanations and fill out the field investigation lab sheets.
At the end of our field investigations the groups will take turns presenting a very brief 5 minute presentation to the other two groups on their sites and the 2 origin explanations they chose. Each group will then yield questions from their peers. After each site has been presented we will head to the bus.
*This is a time that is a HUGE dilemma for me. On the one hand I should end the student-lead, inquiry-based field investigation and head out. However, I feel that this could be an incredible teachable moment for me to explain the geology of the site to the students. If I were to do this it would undermine the follow-up that I have planned back at school.
We will end our outing with a stop at Gooseberry Falls State Park Visitor's Center and, time permitting, the falls area. This stop provides nice bathroom facilities and a gift shop for those students who want to get a little something.
I have yet to see my school's new daily schedule so I am uncertain that we would make it back to school before the end of the school day. This would require parents and guardians providing transportation for the students once we get back to school.
Geology Field Investigation Follow Up Activities:
There will be up to three days of after school or at-home work done by a select group of 4 students from each area groups (12 total). The purpose of this time is to use school or home resources to further research (if necessary), compile data (i.e. a rock sample study of the beaches), and create Power Point presentations. The final two steps in this investigation will be for each group to present their investigations to their respective classrooms and then one final larger presentation to the parents, school staff, and community on the whole field experience and the conclusions or hypothesis the groups formulated by answering the topic question: What geological forces are responsible for creating and changing the Twin Points/Iona's Beach section of Lake Superior coastline, and what evidence can we see of these forces? General Map of Field Site showing the general location between Gooseberry and Split Rock State Parks (Acrobat (PDF) bytes Sep3 08) Pink Rhyolite Beach (North Beach Site) (Acrobat (PDF) bytes Sep3 08) On top of North Headland with granite glacial erratic and Rhyolite Beach in background (Acrobat (PDF) bytes Sep3 08) Picture of South Beach with a shot of the Southern Headland (Acrobat (PDF) bytes Sep3 08) Picture standing on top of the Southern Headland looking north to the Southern Beach and the Northern Headland (Acrobat (PDF) bytes Sep3 08)
The field investigation will be introduced as an extra-curricular option to my Earth Science classes very early in the school year. The students will be informed that the investigation will encompass various aspects, concepts, vocabulary, skills, and investigative cooperation which all of my students will learn and develop throughout the year. Students will also learn that in order to be considered for the field investigation which is slated for late April, they must submit an application (which includes an essay on why they will make a great geologic field investigator), show great enthusiasm and work ethic in my class, and maintain a reasonable grade average (at least a C) and attendance throughout the year. Ten students from each of my 3 Earth Science classes will be taken on this investigation.
The student logistical preparation for the investigation will be conducted through two after school meetings. During these meetings the students will learn what materials they will be using, what the general layout of the site is, what behavior and learning outcomes will be expected of them, and what to bring and how to dress for the investigation.
The students' conceptual and academic preparation will be done throughout the school year prior to the investigation. The students will not receive any more information of concepts or otherwise than the rest of the students who will not be going on the investigation. It is important that they use the skills and concepts presented within my classroom and are not presented anything new or additional prior to the investigation, this will help with the students having a truly minimally guided, inquiry-driven investigation.
Once the students arrive at the field site, they will divide themselves into three groups based on their respective class sections. Each group will be given the following materials:
- Map of the field site outlining all three areas the investigation will be focusing on and each group's map will have the area(s) highlighted that they are assigned to.
- A magnetic compass for each student
- Additional magnets
- 5 Hand lenses and or magnifying glasses
- 5 pocket microscopes (30x)
- 1 dissecting microscope
- metric measuring tools (meter stick, centimeter ruler, metric measuring tape)
- calculators
- one camera with video capabilities
- sample bags (if I get permission from the DNR to collect samples)
- 5 clipboards, field journals, multiple writing utensils
- two copies of the field investigation lab sheet
*Five copies of Mark Sparky Stensaas' book Rock Picker's Guide to Lake Superior's North Shore will be handed out to each group after the group has had observation time and after their investigable questions have been created *
I would highly recommend having all of these materials ready and separated into three boxes prior to the investigation to save time and chaos.
Groups will then make their way to their respective areas and one person will read the Field Investigation Topic Question: What geological forces are responsible for creating and changing this section of Lake Superior coastline, and what evidence can we see of these forces?
After the topic question is read, the students are to pair up with their field partners (set up ahead of time) and spend approximately 20 minutes exploring and observing their designated area. The group assigned to the two beach areas will have to split time between both beaches during this observation time. The students are to record their initial observations and any questions that they may formulate about what they observe. There are no pictures to be taken at this time.
I will then float from group to group to listen to some of the observations made and any questions they have formulated. Using the guidance of their inquiries, I will help the groups further develop questions that are investigable using the tools they have including their senses.
After meeting with each group they will have about 40 minutes to collect data using the tools they were given and each field partnership is responsible for recording this in their field journals. One group will have the unique responsibility of making sure the camera is available to all who need it or the group may decide that one partnership be in charge of taking all pictures and video.
The following is a list of possible observations the groups may make (not limited to this list):
Beaches Group (this group will be responsible for two beach areas): Northern beach is composed almost entirely (~95%) of a pink colored rock (rhyolite); beach shows very well-defined steps or terraces; rocks on this beach are varied from this size ______ to this size_____; there is a large cliff to the north of this beach that looks to be composed of the same rock as this beach; the beach is contained by the cliff to the north and by a headland to the south; the headland is composed of a dark gray rock (basalt); this beach does not stick out as far as the cliffs and the headlands
Southern Beach is composed of quite a variety of rocks including the pink rock seen at Northern beach; this beach has material ranging from sand size to boulders; some of the sand on this beach is attracted by a magnet; some of the rocks on this beach do not match the types of rocks found on the northern beach and also don't look like any other rocks in this site; all the rocks on this beach are at different stages of smoothness and roundness; there are two large boulders that really stick out like sore thumbs on this beach, they are quite different; there is an outcrop of possibly a volcanic rock with lots of vesicles and amygdules; there is another outcrop of a dark rock at the southern edge of the beach that looks similar to the rock that makes up the southern headland.
Northern Headland Group: the whole point seems to be made of the same type of gray-colored rock; there are interesting places in the rock that are crumbly and have spherical shapes; the headland sticks out quite far compared to either of the beaches but about the same as the southern headland; there are three large boulders on the topmost part of the headland that are not the same type of rock as the headland and are quite rounded and smooth; there is a large crack in the headland towards the north where Lake Superior actually fills in and seems to have a little cave; the top of the headland is ____ meters above the water; the rock that makes the headland has very little to no vesicles, there are cracks in the rock that makes up the headland and in some cracks there is a reddish sediment or rock; there is a place where the headland seems to be crumbly or rotten
Southern Headland Group: this group should have much of the same observations as the Northern Headland Group with these additions... this point seems to have an upper and a lower section; the lower section is made of similar rock as the upper section but is visibly darker than the upper section; there is a shelf or undermined crack in between the upper and lower sections; there are many fractures or cracks in certain section of this headland; there are white spots on some parts of the rock of the headland; there are a lot of red colors and swirls in the rock on parts of this headland.
After the 40 minutes of observations and question gathering we will break for lunch. Lunch will be near the top of the southern headland with a view of the two headlands and the southern beach. I will give the students time to eat and relax, then direct their discussions towards their observations and findings of the morning. They will first discuss with each other in small groups of 6, 2 students from each area group, then the discussion will turn to a full-group with each area group describing their areas and some of their findings.
After lunch each group will return to their areas and develop ideas on how their area was created, where the materials (rocks, other) of their area came from, and what geologic forces created and maybe changed or are in the process of changing their areas. I will be bouncing from group to group to make sure that groups are on-task and creating at least two, hopefully more, possible explanations to the origins of their respective coastal features. This should last 30 to 40 minutes and the groups will pick their best, favorite, most creative origin explanations and fill out the field investigation lab sheets.
At the end of our field investigations the groups will take turns presenting a very brief 5 minute presentation to the other two groups on their sites and the 2 origin explanations they chose. Each group will then yield questions from their peers. After each site has been presented we will head to the bus.
*This is a time that is a HUGE dilemma for me. On the one hand I should end the student-lead, inquiry-based field investigation and head out. However, I feel that this could be an incredible teachable moment for me to explain the geology of the site to the students. If I were to do this it would undermine the follow-up that I have planned back at school.
We will end our outing with a stop at Gooseberry Falls State Park Visitor's Center and, time permitting, the falls area. This stop provides nice bathroom facilities and a gift shop for those students who want to get a little something.
I have yet to see my school's new daily schedule so I am uncertain that we would make it back to school before the end of the school day. This would require parents and guardians providing transportation for the students once we get back to school.
Geology Field Investigation Follow Up Activities:
There will be up to three days of after school or at-home work done by a select group of 4 students from each area groups (12 total). The purpose of this time is to use school or home resources to further research (if necessary), compile data (i.e. a rock sample study of the beaches), and create Power Point presentations. The final two steps in this investigation will be for each group to present their investigations to their respective classrooms and then one final larger presentation to the parents, school staff, and community on the whole field experience and the conclusions or hypothesis the groups formulated by answering the topic question: What geological forces are responsible for creating and changing the Twin Points/Iona's Beach section of Lake Superior coastline, and what evidence can we see of these forces? General Map of Field Site showing the general location between Gooseberry and Split Rock State Parks (Acrobat (PDF) bytes Sep3 08) Pink Rhyolite Beach (North Beach Site) (Acrobat (PDF) bytes Sep3 08) On top of North Headland with granite glacial erratic and Rhyolite Beach in background (Acrobat (PDF) bytes Sep3 08) Picture of South Beach with a shot of the Southern Headland (Acrobat (PDF) bytes Sep3 08) Picture standing on top of the Southern Headland looking north to the Southern Beach and the Northern Headland (Acrobat (PDF) bytes Sep3 08)
Teaching Notes and Tips
Special Considerations:
- Safety- the students should be forewarned that there will be no swimming allowed as Lake Superior will be very cold if it isn't partially covered by ice. The beaches are fairly easy walking but rocks and pebbles may shift, make sure students are aware of this and that they wear good sturdy shoes (tennis shoes) are fine. The headlands both have cliff edges (and the northern headland a crack) that need to be respected and walking near the edges of the cliffs should not be permitted. A good rule might be that the students stay at least one meter away from the edges (each partnerships will have meter sticks).
- The less conceptual information that you provide while at the site, the better the investigation will go as a truly inquiry-based investigation. It may be well worth visiting the site with the chaperones if possible to familiarize them to the site and what the goals and outcomes of the investigation will be and how they can best facilitate the inquiry process. I think in order for the investigation to run smoothly, you should have 3 chaperones (one for each group), allowing you to move from group to group without having anyone unsupervised.
- Some students may not want to use the Porta-Potties on site so the stop at Gooseberry is a necessity. Don't forget plenty of water, some extra food in case students forget lunch, and extra layers of clothing for students that are under-dressed.
When we do go outside for class we have extremely limited geologic phenomena and resources available. In fact the only major geologic feature that I use is the Duluth Hillside that is visible from our campus and is about a mile away. Barton Peak and the ridge line are visible and I do reference it often when I teach about the volcanic and glacial history of the area, but my classes have never visited the feature. Having a full day for a select group of my students to actually go into the field and practice interpreting geological phenomena will be an extremely valuable experience and may lead to my being able to take all of my students or all of the eighth graders next year.
- Safety- the students should be forewarned that there will be no swimming allowed as Lake Superior will be very cold if it isn't partially covered by ice. The beaches are fairly easy walking but rocks and pebbles may shift, make sure students are aware of this and that they wear good sturdy shoes (tennis shoes) are fine. The headlands both have cliff edges (and the northern headland a crack) that need to be respected and walking near the edges of the cliffs should not be permitted. A good rule might be that the students stay at least one meter away from the edges (each partnerships will have meter sticks).
- The less conceptual information that you provide while at the site, the better the investigation will go as a truly inquiry-based investigation. It may be well worth visiting the site with the chaperones if possible to familiarize them to the site and what the goals and outcomes of the investigation will be and how they can best facilitate the inquiry process. I think in order for the investigation to run smoothly, you should have 3 chaperones (one for each group), allowing you to move from group to group without having anyone unsupervised.
- Some students may not want to use the Porta-Potties on site so the stop at Gooseberry is a necessity. Don't forget plenty of water, some extra food in case students forget lunch, and extra layers of clothing for students that are under-dressed.
When we do go outside for class we have extremely limited geologic phenomena and resources available. In fact the only major geologic feature that I use is the Duluth Hillside that is visible from our campus and is about a mile away. Barton Peak and the ridge line are visible and I do reference it often when I teach about the volcanic and glacial history of the area, but my classes have never visited the feature. Having a full day for a select group of my students to actually go into the field and practice interpreting geological phenomena will be an extremely valuable experience and may lead to my being able to take all of my students or all of the eighth graders next year.
Assessment
Students will be assessed to determine if they achieved the learning goals by turning in the following items: field journals (including their observations, investigable questions, and lists of possibilities for the origins of the geologic features), field lab sheets (a trimmed down more concise way to compile the field journals; organized into the steps of the scientific method), any further research done back at school, and the final presentation.
There will also be ongoing assessment on-site during large and small group discussions throughout the field investigation. I will make careful note to ensure that all three groups and the partnerships are using the Topic Question as a guide for their work. As I'm typing this, I am thinking of providing a short quiz to be done on-site as the very last task of the investigation.
There will also be ongoing assessment on-site during large and small group discussions throughout the field investigation. I will make careful note to ensure that all three groups and the partnerships are using the Topic Question as a guide for their work. As I'm typing this, I am thinking of providing a short quiz to be done on-site as the very last task of the investigation.
Standards
8.III.A.2 ...how features of Earth's surface are created and constantly changing...
8.III.A.3 ...interactions of the rock cycle...
8.III.A.3 ...interactions of the rock cycle...