Participants of the School of Rock '07 have adapted what they learned at this week-long, intensive workshop and have created the following lessons. Each month a new lesson will be published, with previous months archived here.
May 2008
This month we are highlighting our Google Earth activities:
An Expedition to the Seafloor
Sediment Deposition Supports Seafloor Spreading
Summary: In these two activities, students use Google Earth with drilling data overlays to explore data that provides evidence for seafloor spreading and gain a historical perspective of science research.
Target Age: Grades 5-8, 9-12
Written by: Tavia Prouhet, Ramona Smith, Jerry Cook, Katerina Petronotis
Reviewed by: Kristen St. John, James Madison University
April 2008
How Small? How Big? How Much? 
View
in Flash
Summary: In this activity, students investigate relative size using foraminifera. They explore averages, magnification, and the importance of forams to the oceanic food chain.
Target Age: Grades 3-6
Written by: Julia Dooley, Christina School District, Newark, Delaware
Scientific Review by: Mark Leckie, University of Massachusetts
March 2008
Where in the World? View
in Flash
Summary: In this introductory activity on scientific ocean drilling sites, students expand their knowledge of latitude and longitude in relation to global position. Students record and utilize metadata to find additional information.
Target Age: Grades 4-8
Written by: Eileen Poling, Tucker Valley Elementary Middle School, Hambleton, WV, School of Rock 2007
February 2008
It's Not Just the Core That Tells the Story View
in Flash
Summary: Students read about "down-hole logging" technology, in which instruments are lowered from the drilling ship into the hole after cores have been removed to measure physical properties that reveal more about sea floor sediments and rocks. They then examine sample logs to note patterns and interpret the data.
Target Age: Grades 7-12
Written by: Michael Passow and Gilles Guerin, School of Rock 2007
Science review by: Gilles Guerin, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory
January 2008
Summary: Students use core models made from swim noodles with embedded magnets and compasses to measure and record magnetic orientation. These model cores simulate the magnetic fields recorded in real deep-sea sediment cores obtained from a scientific ocean drilling vessel such as the JOIDES Resolution.
Target Age: Grades 7-12
Written by: Bob King, Friendship Christian School, Lebanon, Tennessee, School of Rock 2007
Science Review by: Debbie Thomas, Texas A&M University
December 2007
Summary: Students calculate sediment rates at different sites on the ocean floor. They have the opportunity to explore a real-life application of rate calculation and what really counts as "fast" in geologic time.
Target Age: Grades 6-8
Written by: Heather Miller, Greely Middle School; Cumberland, Maine; School of Rock 2007
Science review by: Kristen St. John, James Madison University
November 2007
Summary: In this activity, students access online data and generate graphs that illustrate distribution changes in marine microfossils preserved in ocean sediment cores. After graphing the data, students observe and compare their findings with the class.
Target Age: Grades 5-8
Written by: Miriam Sutton, Newport Middle School, Newport, North Carolina, School of Rock 2007
Science review by: Mark Leckie, University of Massachusetts
October 2007
Summary: Students explore average rates of sea floor spreading where the Pacific, Cocos and Nazca plates meet off the coast of Central America. Cores and data were recovered during the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 206 to Site 1256 located in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.
Target Age: Grades 9-12
Written by: Barbara Simon-Waters, East Carteret High School, Beaufort, NC - School of Rock 2007
Science review by: Gary Acton, University of California, Davis
September 2007
Summary: Students investigate core samples obtained across a subduction zone off
the east coast of Japan and compare the rock found in each drill hole.
Target Age: Grades 9-12
Written by:
Joe Monaco, Redlands East Valley High School, Redlands, CA - School of Rock 2007
Science review by: Kristen St. John, James Madison University
