Wallace Creek Field Trip Activity - Student Goal

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Identify a stream offset by analyzing LiDAR imagery
Be able to measure the stream offset
Be able to articulate why there are variations in stream offset measurements

Students demonstrate the use of LiDAR in analysing earthquake faults

Students will practice measurement and graphing data. Students will be able to correlate the measured motion of areas within California to the San Andreas transform plate boundary.

Students will be able to identify, quantify, and understand evidence for structures and processes related to plate tectonic activity and their consequences to landform development and human hazards.

Upon completion of this lab the student shall be able to explain the difference between a left and right hand strike-slip fault. The student will also be able to explain the origin of error and its significants in conclusions reached by scientists. The student shall be able to identify assumptions made by scientists in reaching their conclusions and be able to describe an observation or experiment that could be done to confirm or challenge those assumptions.

Students will understand how current technology (LiDAR) allows visualization of earthquakes (standard 3.x) and learn how dynamic processes have shaped California geology (standard 9.x) by undertaking a virtual field trip to Wallace Creek, Ca. They will use mapping methods, scientific investigation, and perform calculations to analyze data and discuss their observations.

Student creates a LiDAR image for use in analysis of earthquake fault lines.

Grade 6 California

Standards:

1f. Students know how to explain major features of California geology (including mountains, faults, volcanoes) in terms of plate tectonics.

2. Topography is reshaped by the weathering of rock and soil and by the transportation and deposition of sediment. As a basis for understanding this concept: a.Students know water running downhill is the dominant process in shaping the landscape, including Californias landscape.
b. Students know rivers and streams are dynamic systems that erode, transport sediment, change course, and flood their banks in natural and recurring patterns.

7. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
a. Develop a hypothesis.
b. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances, spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data.
c. Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop qualitative statements about the relationships between variables.
d. Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and oral presentations.
e. Recognize whether evidence is consistent with a proposed explanation.
f. Read a topographic map and a geologic map for evidence provided on the maps and construct and interpret a simple scale map.
g. Interpret events by sequence and time from natural phenomena (e.g., the relative ages of rocks and intrusions).
h. Identify changes in natural phenomena over time without manipulating the phenomena (e.g., a tree limb, a grove of trees, a stream, a hillslope).

Students will be able to evaluate the LiDAR data provided to form questions and a hypothesis about the Earth's movement near the Wallace Creek site on the San Andreas Fault in California. They will create a presentation in Google Earth to share their conclusions, the scientific process, and critical thinking.