“Trends in Frontier Earth Science Research” with Art Lerner-Lam (19 Sep 2015)

“Trends in Frontier Earth Science Research”
with Art Lerner-Lam

Originally presented 19 Sep 2015

We are honored that Dr. Arthur Lerner-Lam, LDEO Deputy Director, will join us for the 150th Earth2Class Workshop! Art was the featured scientist for the January 2000 workshop, the first E2C which involved Mike’s longtime E2C partners, Cristian Assumpcao and Frederico Baggio.

Art will present a summary of leading-edge research conducted at Lamont, and the strategic research priorities now under development. He will also discuss opportunities for engagement by teachers and students at all levels. 

Art graduated from Princeton and earned his Ph.D. at UC San Diego. His fields of research span many areas of sesimology, with a focus on upper mantle structures. Here’s how he describes what motivates him in his website:

“Nothing can beat the excitement of collecting a singular piece of data, of measuring it delicately, of pronouncing it fit, and extracting its story. One thing an academic program in science must do is communicate science by current example and past history. And Columbia’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory combine to do this very well. Whether we’re in the field, at the bench, or in front of a computer, we all seem to feel and draw on the institutional memory here.

You have to keep poking at the earth to learn its secrets. As a seismologist, I do a lot of field work collecting data from earthquakes and explosions. I use these data to model the structure of the upper mantle and crust. A new class of seismic instrumentation has revolutionized the way we do science and has allowed us to develop new insights about the deformation of the lithosphere. We can now put first-class seismometers virtually anywhere to take “seismic photographs” of structures beneath them. For example, in a recent experiment in the Colorado Rockies, we were able to nail down the position of the western edge of the North American craton. We’ve also been working in the Caucasus, looking at thrust sheet deformation, and in eastern Kazakhstan, at one of the most seismically quiet sites ever found. My research will continue to focus on upper-mantle structures imaged by portable instruments, particularly in zones of large tectonic transitions.”

 

Following Art’s presentation, we will explore selected research projects here at Lamont that could form the basis for innovative lesson plans aligned with both current State Standards and the NGSS.

Lamont Strategic Plan          Research News          Publications data base         Multimedia          LDEO Educational Opportunities

             –Image result for marie tharp

 

In the afternoon, we will go to the LDEO Core Repository for a special event: Developing climate and other lessons using samples of deep-sea cores and Hudson River sediments!

Nichole Anest, Curator of the LDEO Repository, will provide all participants with free samples of ‘flow-in’ (ocean bottom sediments that are out of sequence and not useful for stratigraphic studies).  In addition, Mike Passow will provide samples of materials from the Hudson River bottom pushed up during the May 2012 slide on the Palisades. We will collaborate on lesson ideas that incorporate these materials.

 

                                               

(Source: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/micropal/foram.html)

The Lamont-Doherty Core Repository

The Lamont-Doherty Core Repository is an NSF and LDEO funded facility that serves the Earth Science research community and fosters public awareness of the importance of basic research on Earth’s history and processes.

Cold Core Storage

 

Suggestions for Curriculum Development

Links to the NGSS and State Standards          Sample Lesson Plan Template (Note: Adapt as desired) 

 

Developing a Lesson Using the LDEO Flow-in and other Materials

Nichole Anest, LDEO Core Repository Curator, provides samples from core “VM-33-65”. Here is the link to its description in the “Index of Marine and Lacustrine Geological Samples” (IMLGS) in the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. She also provides samples from a cruise of the R/V “Eastward,” probably from off the coast of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic.

Mike paddled his kayak to the area where a rockslide had occurred  along the Palisades several days earlier in May 2012. See the images. He collected samples of the mud that had been pushed up from the bottom.

These materials can be used to conduct the DRAFT sample lesson plan, “Comparing Terrestrial and Marine Sediments.”

Images from the May 2012 rockslide on the Palisades in Alpine NJ (taken by Mike Passow)

             OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA          OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA          OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA         OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA       OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Additional Curriculum Suggestions:

“Activities about Sediments”


From the Deep Earth Academy/Scientific Ocean Drilling Educator Resources Collection

“Nanofossils Reveal Seafloor Spreading Truth”
Students interpret data from an early leg of the scientific ocean drilling program to determine how scientists solidified their understanding of seafloor spreading.

“Secrets of the Sediments”
During this activity, students will graph and analyze data from sediments collected off the coast of Santa Barbara, California to determine whether this information can be used to study historical climate change.

“Changes Over Time–Microfossils in Blake’s Nose”
This activity allows students to access online data and generate graphs that illustrate distribution changes in marine microfossils preserved in ocean sediment cores.

“Core Section Curation”
Students will be able to use their prior knowledge, plus the guides and materials provided, to catalogue and label one or more core samples.

“Core Stories: Recognizing Patterns in Earth’s Climate History”
Students observe marine sediments (core images and model) to make inferences about Earth’s climate history.

“Investigating Seafloor Sediments–Proceed as a Scientist”
Students investigate the question “What makes up the seafloor?” using equipment to analyze sediments and test hypotheses. They use the Science Flow Chart to reflect on their process.

“What Is a Core?”
Ocean drilling samples are recovered in cores, long tubes of material collected while drilling beneath the sea floor. Specific terminology is used to precisely describe the location of a sample taken in a core.

Your Assignment

Create an acceptable lesson plan based on a Lamont Research Project and win a certificate good for free admission to two E2C workshops.

Use the template provided or another that provides similar content.

Submit your lesson plan to michael@earth2class.org.

After final revisions, your lesson plan will be published in the E2C website and  other resources.

Deadline: 1 April 2016..

 

 

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