Have you seen this around Duke’s campus? It’s a model of a mock rock outcrop, to be measured and described by students in Dr. Alex Glass‘s EOS 11: Dynamic Earth course. Students are using GPS to find and mark the stations (there are 60 around campus), each of which provides data on the type of rock, its dip (the angle at which it tilts into the ground), and its compass orientation (known as the “strike”). This data will make it possible to infer the (virtual) bedrock geology under the Duke Campus. Students will pool their data to map the rock layers, and then predict where oil might be found. Mapping “strike and dip” is a common activity for professional geologists. Dr. Glass constructed the stations and planned this activity for his students to have real, hands-on experience using GPS, making measurements and observations, inferring underlying structure from surface observations, and making predictions, just like professional geologists. Students are participating now; we’ll find out what they think soon.
This project was funded by a Jump Start Grant from the Center for Instructional Technology.