Geological Society of America

65 Geoscience and Environmental Science Education in the Cordillera and Rockies: Research and Practice (Posters)

Thursday, 17 May 2018
8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Outdoor Tents

USING FOSSILS OF THE PALEOBIOLOGY DATABASE (PBDB) TO EXPLORE THE TECTONIC LINKAGE OF THE AMERICAS

Paper number: 65-4
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM

Authors

Callan Bentley Presenting Author
Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, VA
Mark Uhen
George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Peter J. Berquist
Thomas Nelson Community College, Williamsburg, VA
Rowan Lockwood
The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA
Laura Lukes
Fairfax, VA
Katherine Ryker
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Christian O. George
High Point University, High Point, NC
Ander Sundell
College of Western Idaho, Nampa, ID

Abstract

In this poster, we describe and demonstrate a student activity we developed utilizing the Paleobiology Database's (PBDB's) user-friendly "Navigator" interface. The activity has students to explore the tectonic implications of the Great American Biotic Interchange, an event where North American species moved into South America and (to a lesser extent) vice versa. Students use the PBDB Navigator ( https://paleobiodb.org/navigator/ ) to access information about the time/space distribution of several terrestrial fossil taxa, plot maps of these results, formulate hypotheses about the timing of the build-up of the Isthmus of Panama (and hence the connection between North and South America), and then test those hypotheses using several other sources of online data. The activity has been piloted using our project's research protocols, and refined based on feedback from multiple colleagues using a rubric. It is now available for any educator to utilize: https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/intro/activities/180125.html

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 50, No. 5

doi: 10.1130/abs/2018RM-313930

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