T220 Teaching Field Geology without the Field: Providing a Robust Capstone Experience through Digital Resources III

Thursday, 29 October 2020
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Meeting Rooms

STRABOSPOT FOR TEACHING VIRTUAL FIELD EXPERIENCES: A SUMMER 2020 RESPONSE TO COVID-19

Paper number: T220-1
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 1:30 PM – 1:45 PM

Authors

Abstract

In response to the urgent need for virtual field camp activities for Summer 2020, we re-imagined how StraboSpot could be a valuable teaching tool. StraboSpot is a geologic and geographic data system designed to allow researchers to digitally collect, store, and share field and laboratory data. The data system currently accommodates field-based structural geology, sedimentology, and petrology data using two modes: 1) Map mode for working in geographic space based on a map (topo, satellite, geologic, or other user map); and 2) Strat mode for tracking stratigraphic relationships. We developed two virtual field exercises: A structural project focused on the Baraboo syncline of southern Wisconsin, and a sedimentology/stratigraphy project based on exposures of the Jurassic Carmel and Cretaceous Cedar Mountain formations in central Utah.

The Baraboo syncline exercise leads students on a virtual field trip with multiple stops. Each stop includes imagery and other data, prompting students to build an evidence-based model of the regional structure. Students use Spot imagery to evaluate way-up criteria, and are tasked with annotating photos and determining strike/dip of an outcrop given photo facing direction. The ability to recognize multiple points of interest within a single outcrop is facilitated by using nested images on ImageBasemaps. Synthesis is accomplished by students producing a schematic cross-section.

The stratigraphy module consists of three flexible exercises: 1) Students use StraboSpot as a field notebook, setting locations and collecting basic observations; 2) Students use outcrop and drone imagery to differentiate and interpret lithofacies; and 3) Students construct a stratigraphic column, forming the basis for discussion of attributes related to stratigraphic sections and interpreting environments/successions. This exercise incorporates imagery (of stratigraphic intervals, beds, and samples), bedding/lithological descriptions of each interval, and contextual drone imagery to provide bed attributes at the outcrop scale.

Exercises are available via the teaching tab on the StraboSpot website (www.strabospot.org) and we welcome additional contributions from the community. These and similar digital tools can enrich curricula and address student accessibility issues.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 52, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2020AM-359091

© Copyright 2020 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.