Layer Cake Geology
This activity has benefited from input from faculty educators beyond the author through a review and suggestion process.
This review took place as a part of a faculty professional development workshop where groups of faculty reviewed each others' activities and offered feedback and ideas for improvements. To learn more about the process On the Cutting Edge uses for activity review, see http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/review.html.
This activity was selected for the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Collection
Resources in this top level collection a) must have scored Exemplary or Very Good in all five review categories, and must also rate as “Exemplary” in at least three of the five categories. The five categories included in the peer review process are
- Scientific Accuracy
- Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
- Pedagogic Effectiveness
- Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
- Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page
For more information about the peer review process itself, please see http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/review.html.
This page first made public: Jun 4, 2009
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
Fossil formation (in sedimentary rocks)
How the activity is situated in the course
Content/concepts goals for this activity
-When deposited, younger (more recent) sedimentary rock layers sit on top of older rock layers (Law of Superposition).
-Sedimentary rock layers and time can be correlated.
-Relative ages of rocks can be determined based on rock layer position.
-Relative ages of fossils within rock layers can be determined based on position.
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Other skills goals for this activity
Description of the activity/assignment
Determining whether students have met the goals
Download teaching materials and tips
- Activity Description/Assignment:Layer Cake Geology Activity (Acrobat (PDF) 128kB Jun3 09)
- Instructors Notes:
- Solution Set:Layer Cake Geology Worksheet Answer Key (Acrobat (PDF) 159kB Jun3 09)