Chapter 6: Time to Apply
Below are materials to support teaching and learning about scientific ocean drilling that connect to the content in this chapter. We also encourage you to explore the Resources for Educators page in this OER for links to additional exercises and assessments.
Time to Apply: Part A
Exercise 1
Keeping the “Big Picture” in mind
Reflect on the Core Flow section of this chapter.
Answer the following questions:
a) How does studying a core from the seafloor to the lab help scientists learn more about Earth’s history?
b) Why is it important for different scientists to work together when studying cores?
c) Why should cores be saved for future research, and how might scientists use them years later?
Exercise 2
Seeing the Unseen
In the Core Flow section of this chapter, read about the onboard X-Ray Imager and in the interactive Explore the Labs on the Core Deck read about the X-Ray Lab.
Answer the following questions:
a) How might X-ray images change the way scientists interpret a core compared to just looking at its surface appearance?
b) Why is it important for scientists to compare X-ray images with other measurements and observations before deciding where to sample a core?
c) Imagine you are a scientist on board. You are looking at a core X-ray image that shows darker bands, lighter patches, and a few small burrow-like features. Based on what you know about density contrasts and sediment structures, where might you choose to take a sample, and why?
Exercise 3
The Nitty Gritty
Reflect on the Core Description: Sedimentology, Petrology and More section of this chapter.
Answer the following questions:
a) Why do small details in cores—like color changes, grain size, or tiny microfossils—matter when interpreting past environments or events? Can you think of an example where careful observation might reveal important information?
b) How do scientists use core evidence, such as tiny impact spherules from the K/Pg boundary or carbonate content, to understand major events or past climates? Why is it important to preserve these samples for future study?
Exercise 4
One Grain at a Time
Click on Core Description Lab in the interactive Explore the Labs on the Core Deck feature, located at the end of the Core Flow section of this chapter.
The Sedimentology on the JOIDES Resolution video presents what sedimentologists look for in expedition cores. This sedimentologist was a member of IODP Expedition 344- CRISP 2: Costa Rica Seismogenesis Project. Conducted in late 2012, the scientific objective was to better understand subduction zone earthquakes. To achieve this goal, the JR drilled in the Costa Rica subduction zone, where the Cocos Tectonic Plate subducts beneath the Caribbean Tectonic Plate.
Watch the video and then answer the questions below:
a) When sedimentologists find a sudden change from land-derived (terrigenous) sediments to marine sediments in a core, what might that contact tell us about past Earth processes?
b) Why is it important for sedimentologists to study grains at such a small scale (on smear slides under a microscope) when they are trying to understand much larger processes like earthquakes or volcanoes?
Exercise 5
Micro-Evidence, Major Impacts
Review the SciOD Spotlight – Chris Lowery, micropaleontologist in the Micropaleontology section of this chapter.
Answer the following questions:
a) How did drilling cores from the Chicxulub impact crater help scientists test hypotheses about the formation of the peak ring and understand the events that caused the dinosaurs’ extinction?
b) Why is collecting physical evidence so important in science?
c) Chris mentions that studying tiny microfossils can reveal information about large-scale events like mass extinctions. How can small details help scientists understand big-picture questions about Earth’s history and life on our planet?
Exercise 6
Mineral Mysteries Revealed
Click on X-Ray Diffraction Lab in the interactive Explore the Labs on the Fo’c’s’le Deck feature, located at the end of the Core Flow section of this chapter.
Read the description of the methods that take place in this lab and answer the questions below:
a) Why do scientists grind rock samples into a fine powder before analyzing them with X-ray diffraction, and how does this improve the accuracy of the results?
b) What advantage might X-ray diffraction analyses have over visually inspecting a rock or sediment when trying to identify minerals in core samples?
Exercise 7
Interstitial Intelligence
Review the Geochemistry section of this chapter as well as the Inorganic and Organic Geochemistry Labs in the interactive Explore the Labs on the Fo’c’s’le Deck feature.
Answer the following questions:
a) Why is the content within the spaces of a core important to inorganic geochemists?
b) Why is it important for organic geochemists to analyze compressed gases within the core?
Exercises 8
Clearing the Microbial Hurdles
Click on the Microbiology Lab in the interactive Explore the Labs on the Fo’c’s’le Deck feature, located at the end of the Core Flow section of this chapter.
Read the description of the methods that take place in this lab and answer the questions below:
a) What challenges do the microbes found in the cores present that scientists need to overcome?
b) What specialized tools and equipment do biologists use to study deep-sea microbes, and how does each tool help overcome the challenges of working with these organisms?
Exercise 9
Fossil Forever Friend: Foraminifera!
Read this article by science writer Tim Vernimmen about the remarkable insights gained from studying foraminifera microfossils: The history of the ocean, as told by tiny beautiful fossils
Answer the questions below:
a) Why are planktonic foraminifera especially valuable to paleontologists compared to species that live on the seafloor?
b) What role did foraminifera fossils play in helping scientists understand the effects of the asteroid impact 66 million years ago, and why did deep-seafloor species survive while most planktonic species went extinct?
c) What survival strategy helped planktonic foraminifera during the extreme warming about 56 million years ago, and what happened to many species during the cooling at the Eocene-Oligocene transition?
c) How do foraminifera fossils help scientists predict the effects of global warming on the ocean’s twilight zone, and what specific changes are expected in this deep-sea habitat?
Exercise 10
Decoding Earth’s Magnetic Past
Click on the Paleomagnetism Lab in the interactive Explore the Labs on the Core Deck feature, located at the end of the Core Flow section of this chapter.
The Lab Profile: Paleomagnetism video introduces the team from 2018 IODP Expedition 374, also featured in Exercise 6. This expedition studied sediments from the Ross Sea, near the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in order to understand how the WAIS has responded to past changes in climate and ocean conditions.
Watch the video and then answer the questions below:
a) How do paleomagnetists use changes in Earth’s magnetic polarity (normal vs. reversed) to build a magnetostratigraphic column for sediment cores?
b) Why is it important for paleomagnetists to collaborate with paleontologists when creating an age model from cores?
c) If Earth’s magnetic field hadn’t reversed many times in the past, how might that make it harder for scientists to build accurate timelines of sediment cores?
Exercise 11
Synergy in Science
Reflect on the Pulling Together the Data section of this chapter.
Answer the following questions:
a) How do you think the daily cross-over meetings on the JOIDES Resolution helped scientists make new discoveries or refine their research questions?
b) Can you think of a situation where combining different perspectives might improve problem-solving in your own work or studies?
Time to Apply: part B
The JOIDES Resolution website has an entire collection of Classroom Activities that include lesson plans, data exercises, digital interactives, posters, and career information. Here in Part B, we call attention to materials that relate to the content of this chapter.
Activities with Core Description and Curation
- The “hole” story about ocean cores — In this activity, students are introduced to core description and curation techniques used by scientists and technicians during IODP Expedition 309. After observing four different cores recovered during the expedition, students will practice observing, labeling, describing, and interpreting the cores to tell the story of the ocean floor. This is the home page for the activity, and the poster file can be accessed here or downloaded from here.
- Recognizing patterns in Earth’s climate history lesson plan — In this exercise your students will be asked to make observations about marine sediments. Cores of sediment are obtained by drilling into the seafloor by a scientific ocean drilling research vessel, the JOIDES Resolution. Students will examine a series of photographs of sediment cores in this activity. The photographs range from a close-up of a particular interval of one core, to the whole core, and then to the whole sequence of cores from a single drilling location. Moving across this range of scales will allow students to expand their observations and recognize patterns. The last task asks students to compare their core observations to relevant global climate data and develop hypotheses on how the patterns they observed in the cores may have been driven by cyclic global climate change. This activity is in the For Educators section of the JOIDES Resolution website.
- Core section curation — Students will be able to use their prior knowledge, plus the guides and materials provided, to catalogue and label one or more core samples. This activity is in the For Educators section of the JOIDES Resolution website.
Activities with Microfossils
- Finding Fossils: a biostratigraphy activity — Students form teams to sort through specimen sets to identify the species of their sample (noted on the group’s range sheet). Using the range sheet, they determine the possible age of their sample set. The individual teams then come together to discuss the results as a whole class. The individual age ranges based on each team are compared to further constrains the age of the sample. Together, all groups determine the final age range of their sample. This activity is in the For Educators section of the JOIDES Resolution website.
Activity with Physical Properties
- Measuring cores: practice using rulers — This activity was created as a result of the blog about measuring being an underrated skill in science (released in EXP 393). In hard rock cores (samples from the ocean floor in the shape of a tube) sometimes have fractures that fill up with minerals. These fractures are called veins because they are filled and no longer an empty space. Scientists will measure these veins to know where they show up on the core, how long they are, and later find out what they are filled with. The direction of the veins can also help scientists estimate the direction of stress that caused the initial fractures to form. This is a quick introduction to using a ruler, understanding how to read a ruler, and how we can use a ruler to measure lengths of veins in basalt cores. This activity is in the For Educators section of the JOIDES Resolution website.
Activity with Sedimentology
- Core Understanding: description and lithostratigraphy — You will model the role of a shipboard sedimentologist and describe a split core. This is an inquiry-based activity and it will draw on and further develop your scientific skills of observation and description. You will also learn how important it is in science to be complete and consistent in recording your visual observations. This activity is in the For Educators section of the JOIDES Resolution website.
Activity with Geochemistry
- Radiogenic Isotope Tracers — Students will use data from deep sea cores to interpret a graph. Students will apply their knowledge of isotopes to understand how scientists use chemistry to discover the origins of ocean sediments and infer changes in climate. This activity is in the For Educators section of the JOIDES Resolution website.
