1. Customizable Graphic Organizer for Virtual Fieldwork
Provided by ReaL Earth System Science
&
Adapted from work by Sarah R. Miller

2. Connect to Big Ideas & Overarching Questions
The next slide offers one (carefully developed) take on what are the most important ideas to understand about Earth.
Read the Big Ideas and connect them to what you see in your study of the environment.

3. Earth System Science Profound Ideas
Overarching Questions:
How do we know what we know? How does what we know inform our decision-making?
The Earth is a System of Systems.
The Flow of Energy Drives the Cycling of Matter.
Life, including human life, influences and is influenced by the environment.
Physical and chemical principles are unchanging and drive both gradual and rapid changes in the Earth system.
To Understand (Deep) Time and the Scale of Space, Models and Maps are Necessary.
The Earth System is composed of and part of a multitude of systems, which cycle and interact resulting in dynamic equilibrium (though the system evolves). The Earth is also nested in larger systems including the solar system and the universe. However there is an inherent unpredictability in systems, which are composed of an (effectively) infinite number of interacting parts that follow simple rules. Each system is qualitatively different from, but not necessarily greater than the sum of its parts.
The Earth is an open system – it is the constant flow of solar radiation that powers most surface Earth processes and drives the cycling of most matter at or near the Earth’s surface. Earth’s internal heat is a driving force below the surface. Energy flows and cycles through the Earth system. Matter cycles within it. Convection drives weather and climate, ocean currents, the rock cycle and plate tectonics.
Photosynthetic bacteria reformulated the atmosphere making Earth habitable.  Humans have changed the lay of the land, altered the distribution of flora and fauna and are changing atmospheric chemistry in ways that alter the climate.  Earth system processes affect where and how humans live. For example, many people live in the shadow of volcanoes because of the fertile farmland found there, however they must keep a constant vigil to maintain their safety. The human impact on the environment is growing as population increases and the use of technology expands.
Earth processes (erosion, evolution or plate tectonics, for example) operating today are the same as those operating since they arose in Earth history and they are obedient to the laws of chemistry and physics. While the processes constantly changing the Earth are essentially fixed, their rates are not. Tipping points are reached that can result in rapid changes cascading through Earth systems.
The use of models is fundamental to all of the Earth Sciences. Maps and models aid in the understanding of aspects of the Earth system for which direct observation is not possible. Models assist in the comprehension of time and space at both immense and sub-microscopic scales. When compared to the size and age of the universe, humanity is a speck in space and a blip in time.
Earth System Science Profound Ideas

4. VFEs Are Question Driven
Ultimately, we want learners to be able to read the landscape: by looking at it’s shape, and the rocks and other materials that compose and move through it, a story can be unearthed.
“Why does this place look the way it does” is the driving question for the project.
Sub-questions vary in size, scale and purpose. Some questions may have a one or two word answer, but those questions should be followed with questions of how we know and what those simple answers imply.
These are important questions!
For all of these questions:
How do you know? (What evidence is there?)
What does it tell you about past environments?
What does it imply about the future?

5. When scientists work in the field...
...answers are often unclear as to why a place or thing came to be the way it is.
That’s true here too.
This virtual fieldwork is intended to raise questions for you to explore.

6. Why does this place look the way it does?
Are there mountains, valleys, or hills?
What are the valley shapes?
What can form valleys?
What can cause mountains or hills to form?
Are the mountains or hills young or old?
What role do tectonics play in shaping the site?
Why does this place look the way it does?
What effects has life, including human life, had on the landscape?
Describe the shape of the land.
For all of these questions:
How do you know? (What evidence is there?)
What does it tell you about past environments?
What does it imply about the future?
What types of rock are there?
How have plants shaped the landscape?
How have animals generally, and humans in particular, changed the landscape?
On what scale?
What effects has water had on the landscape?
Do the rocks seem to form a sequence?
What effect has the climate had on the landscape?
Sediments & Sedimentary Rocks
Is it clastic or organic/chemical?
If clastic, what is the grain size?
If organic, what minerals is it made out of?
Are there fossils?
Is water depositing material, eroding material, or both?
Is the action of water primarily chemical, primarily physical, or both chemical and physical?
Metamorphic
Is it foliated or non-foliated?
What was the parent rock?
Igneous
Did the rock form above or below ground?
Is it felsic or mafic?
Was the past climate different?
What factors may have been affected or caused by climate?
Where would you find the oldest rocks?
Youngest rocks?
Are there different kinds of rocks at different outcrops?

7. What effects has water had on the landscape?
Is water depositing material, eroding material, or both?
Is the action of water primarily chemical, primarily physical, or both chemical and physical?

8. What effects has water had on the landscape?
Link to a ZoomImage of this photo. It is a high resolution photo that you can zoom in and pan around.

9. Describe the shape of the land.
What can cause mountains or hills to form?
Are the mountains or hills young or old?
What is the valley’s shape?
What can form valleys?
What is the role of plate tectonics in shaping the land?

10. What do you think the climate is like here? Why?
What factors influence the climate?
Identify features shaped or determined by climate.
Was the past climate different? How can you tell?
How is climate change likely to affect this place?

11. What types of rock are there?
A common question for all rock types:
What do the characteristics of the rock tell you about past environments?
In this template, there is at least one page for each general rock type (metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary)
Many field sites have only one of these three types of rocks.
Chart of common rock textures
Sedimentary
Is it clastic or organic/chemical?
If clastic, what is the grain size?
If organic, what minerals is it made out of?
Are there fossils?
What do the rocks indicate about past environments?
Metamorphic
Is it foliated or non-foliated?
What was the parent rock?
Igneous
Did the rock form above or below ground?
Is it felsic or mafic?

13. Chart by Jim Ebert, SUNY Oneonta
Common Rock Textures
Chart by Jim Ebert, SUNY Oneonta

14. What types of rock are there? Metamorphic

15. What types of rock are there? Igneous

16. What types of rock are there? Sedimentary
Is it clastic or organic/chemical?
If clastic, what is the grain size?
If organic, what minerals is it made out of?
Are there fossils?
What do rock characteristics tell you about past environments?
Scheme for Sedimentary Rock ID

17. What types of rock are there? Sedimentary

18. Do the rocks seem to form a sequence?
Where would you find the oldest rocks?
Youngest rocks?
Are there different kinds of rocks at different outcrops?

19. What effects have humans had on the landscape?
On what scale?
Which human impacts were intentional?
Which human impacts were unintentional?

22. Suggestions for improvement are welcome!
There’s ample room for improvement!
Please send suggestions for additions and other improvements, including suggested photos of the Arbuckles, to:
Don Duggan-Haas at:

23. Suggestions that haven’t been worked in as yet...
What would this place look like if ______________ (some process or event) hadn’t happened?
Please send suggestions for additions and other improvements, including suggested photos of the Arbuckles, to:
Don Duggan-Haas at: