Lesson Description

Explore Grand Canyon, AZ using a virtual field trip (VFT). Observe the rock record and what these rocks reveal about the life and environments of the past. Apply investigation techniques to the search for life in the solar system.

Central Question: What is a reason that we send missions to multiple locations on Mars?

Instructional Objective: Construct an explanation for why multiple missions are sent to a variety of locations on planetary bodies to investigate their geologic history and search for signatures of life.

Learning Outcomes

• Learning Outcome #1: Discuss and compare explanations for the observed change in rock patterns and the connections those patterns reveal between the Great Unconformity (earth science) and the Cambrian Explosion (life science).

• Learning Outcome #2: Investigate the changing geologic patterns of the Grand Canyon and then integrate information from virtual media to make an inference about the processes that occurred here.

• Learning Outcome #3: Explain the importance of collecting data from multiple sites to piece together the geologic history and evolution of life on a global scale.

Prerequisites

• Relative age dating

• Rock types

• Sedimentary rock