Final project
PHY 205 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric
Overview Understanding the current and historical geologic and plate tectonic settings of a geographic area has more than academic implications. Past geologic history can have implications for economic deposits, conservation, and future land use. As the need for alternative energy begins to escalate, there is an increasing need for geoscience professionals to effectively apply the concepts of geology to identify areas suitable for future mining and extraction activities and to set aside land for future use for other purposes. Examples of this are wetlands and other protected areas.
For your final project, you will assume the role of a park ranger at a national park of your choice. The park must meet these requirements: be easily accessible by multiple routes and be open over a long period of time. You will make recommendations to park visitors on to how to tour the national park and how to effectively learn the national park’s geology. Based on your knowledge of geologic processes and plate tectonic settings, you will develop a two-part final project: a virtual poster illustrating the geologic and tectonic setting of the selected national park, and a virtual tour of the national park using Google Earth.
This assessment addresses the following course outcomes:
PHY-205-01: Analyze rock types for their essential relationships to economic deposits, geologic settings, and structural formations in the geosphere
PHY-205-02: Assess convergent, divergent, and transform plate settings for their fundamental influence on the tectonic environments of geographic locations
PHY-205-03: Interpret the geologic history of locations for determining the typical impacts of geologic processes and events on human and environmental concerns
PHY-205-04: Contrast key internal and external Earth processes for determining their central impacts on the origin and structural formation of landforms
PHY-205-05: Utilize analytical tools and software to make basic recommendations for key stakeholders in the geosciences community
Scenario Imagine that you are a park ranger at a national park of your choice that meets the following requirements: easily accessible by multiple routes and open over a long period of time. You have been the park ranger at your selected park for several years, and you have expert knowledge about the park’s geology and tectonic setting. You know that park visitors are a key part of the geosciences community; after all, they are the people who come to the park to experience the park’s geology. You want to draw visitors to your national park by providing recommendations for learning about the geologic development and tectonic history of the area. In addition, you want to recommend the best possible route for touring the national park so that visitors can see and learn about the park’s geology effectively.
Prompt Your virtual poster and virtual tour should address the following prompt: You will create a one-slide virtual poster that will detail the geologic history and plate tectonic setting of the selected national park. Think of this as a display that tourists will see at a visitor center shortly after entering the park. You will also create a Google Earth virtual tour that will provide visitors with a recommended route for touring the national park to efficiently learn about the geology and tectonic environment.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Prepare a one-slide virtual poster detailing the geologic history and plate tectonic setting of your selected national park. Remember that your audience is a subset of the geosciences community: visitors to the park. Since most park visitors are not geologists, they probably know little about geology, so make sure to use clear, easily understandable language.
A. Overview 1. Map: Where is the national park located? Include a map showing the location of your national park. 2. Geologic Interest: Give a concise overview of the basic geologic setting and plate tectonic setting of the national park. What makes the park
interesting geologically? Why should visitors want to tour the park? B. Geology: This section will contain most of the detail of the poster and present a comprehensive account of the history of the park in terms of geology
and tectonic movement. Include pictures, diagrams, and graphics where appropriate as support for your text. 1. Rock Type(s): Describe the predominant rock type(s) present in the park. Identify the economic deposits, geologic settings, and structural
formations in or near the park that may be impacted by the rock type(s) you described. What is the relationship between the rock type(s) and the economic deposits, geologic settings, and structural formations?
2. Tectonics: Describe the tectonic environment of the region where your park is located. How does plate movement fundamentally affect the geology of your park?
3. Geologic History: Describe the overall geologic history of the region where your park is located. How have past geologic events affected and shaped your park?
4. Structure(s): Describe the predominant subsurface or surficial structure(s) present in your park. What internal and external processes formed the structure(s)?
C. Conclusion: What is the most effective way to tour the national park you selected? Briefly describe your recommended tour progression and explain why you are making this recommendation. (You will need to complete the Google Earth virtual tour before making your recommendation.)
Below is a sample layout. You are NOT required to use this layout. Feel free to be creative, but remain informative. Remember that “white space” is important in a poster.
Alt tag: Sample layout of final project submission
II. Develop a Google Earth virtual tour of your national park for potential tourists. Your tour should both showcase the geology of the park and be efficient and easily accessible. The tour should begin at the entrance you identify and work progressively through the park to the exit, with stops along the way to observe the park’s geology. This means that you may need to revise your entrance and exit locations after selecting your geological locations; your goal should be to develop a logical, cohesive tour. When you have finished creating your virtual tour, make sure to save it as a .kml file.
A. Transportation: Evaluate the transportation network near the park, and identify the most effective locations for entering and exiting the park, given the geologic sites that you want park visitors to experience (you may need to revise your entrance and/or exit after selecting your geologic locations). Add a placemark (pushpin) at the entrance and the exit that you identify.
B. Location Selection: Now that you have identified the most effective entrance and exit locations for the park, you are ready to focus on geology. Select locations in the national park where visitors could learn about geologic features of the national park. Add a placemark at each location you select.
Title
Introduction/background section
Discussion of geological sites with graphics/figures including the source in APA or MLA format (your choice, as long as it is consistent)
Map of park with geological sites noted
References cited
Conclusions
Your Name
1. Rock Type(s): Select two locations that demonstrate the predominant rock type(s) present in your park. 2. Tectonics: Select two locations that demonstrate the tectonic environment of your park. 3. Geologic History: Select two locations that demonstrate the geologic history of your park. 4. Structure(s): Select two locations that demonstrate the predominant subsurface or surficial structure(s) present in your park.
C. Geologic Features: Describe the geologic features of the locations you have selected. Your description should be placed in the description textbox for your placemark. Consider including embedded or linked video clips, soundbites, or graphics to support your description.
1. Rock Type(s): Analyze the texture, color, and appearance of the rocks you examined to select your locations. How does this analysis help you define the essential relationships between the rock type(s) and the economic deposits, geologic settings, and structural formations in or near the park?
2. Tectonics: Assess the tectonic environment of the locations where you added your placemarks. Are your locations convergent, divergent, or transform plate settings? How do you know?
3. Geologic History: Interpret the geologic history of the locations where you added your placemarks. How have geologic processes and events affected human and environmental concerns at these locations?
4. Structure(s): Contrast the processes that formed the structure(s) at the locations where you added your placemarks. How have these processes impacted the origin and structural formation of the landforms in your park?
Milestones Milestone: Google Earth Tour Draft In Module Five, you are required to submit a draft of the Google Earth tour of your national park up to that point. Remember that you want to draw visitors to your national park by providing recommendations for learning about the geologic development and tectonic history of the area. In addition, you want to recommend the best possible route for touring the national park so that visitors can see and learn about the park’s geology effectively. The Google Earth virtual tour will provide visitors with a recommended route for touring the national park to efficiently learn about the geology and tectonic environment. This milestone is graded with the Milestone One Rubric.
Final Submission: Google Earth Virtual Tour and National Park Poster In Module Seven, you will submit your Geology of a National Park: Google Earth Virtual Tour and National Park Poster. This submission is graded with the Final Project Rubric.
Final Project Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Your virtual poster should be one slide and your Google Earth virtual tour should be saved as a .kml file. Cite your sources when appropriate using APA style.
Critical Elements Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Not Evident Value
Overview: Map Includes accurate map showing location of the national park (100%)
Includes map showing location of the national park but with gaps in accuracy (55%)
Does not include map (0%) 6
Overview: Geologic Interest
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and description is exceptionally compelling and interesting for park visitors (100%)
Concisely describes the geologic and plate tectonic setting of the national park in a way that shows why the park is geologically interesting (85%)
Describes the geologic and plate tectonic setting of the national park, but description is wordy or vague or does not explain why the park is geologically interesting (55%)
Does not describe the geologic and plate tectonic setting of the national park (0%)
6
Geology: Rock Meets “Proficient” criteria, and description demonstrates nuanced insight into relationship between rock type(s) and economic deposits, geologic settings, and structural formations in the park (100%)
Accurately describes the predominant rock type(s) and their relationship to economic deposits, geologic settings, and structural formations in the park (85%)
Describes the predominant rock type(s) and their relationship to economic deposits, geologic settings, and structural formations in the park, but with gaps in accuracy or detail (55%)
Does not describe the predominant rock type(s) in the park (0%)
6
Geology: Tectonics Meets “Proficient” criteria, and description demonstrates nuanced insight into relationship between tectonic movement and geologic features in the park (100%)
Accurately describes tectonic environment and effect of plate movement on the geology of the park (85%)
Describes tectonic environment and effect of plate movement on the geology of the park, but with gaps in accuracy or detail (55%)
Does not describe tectonic environment or effect of plate movement on the geology of the park (0%)
6
Geology: Geologic History
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and explanation demonstrates nuanced insight into relationship between past geologic events and park geologic features (100%)
Accurately describes geologic history of the region and explains how past geologic events have affected and shaped the park (85%)
Describes geologic history of the region and explains how past geologic events have affected and shaped the park, but with gaps in accuracy or detail (55%)
Does not describe geologic history of the region (0%)
6
Geology: Structure(s)
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and description demonstrates nuanced insight into relationship between structures and processes (100%)
Accurately describes predominant subsurface or surficial structure(s) and the internal and external processes that formed them (85%)
Describes predominant subsurface or surficial structure(s) and the internal and external processes that formed them, but with gaps in accuracy or detail (55%)
Does not describe predominant subsurface or surficial structure(s) (0%)
6
Conclusion Meets “Proficient” criteria, and recommended tour and explanation are exceptionally contextualized and well- thought-out (100%)
Concisely describes recommended tour and explains reasons for recommendation (85%)
Describes recommended tour and explains reasons for recommendation, but description is wordy or vague (55%)
Does not describe recommended tour (0%)
6
Transportation Meets “Proficient” criteria, and relationship between entrance, exit, and geologic sites is exceptionally clear and logical (100%)
Identifies effective locations for entering and exiting the park given the geologic sites on the tour (85%)
Identifies locations for entering and exiting the park, but locations are not effective for the geologic sites on the tour (55%)
Does not identify locations for entering and exiting the park (0%)
6
Location Selection: Rock Type(s)
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and selected locations show keen insight into essential relationships between rock type(s) and economic deposits, geologic settings, and structural formations into geology of park (100%)
Selects two locations that accurately demonstrate the predominant rock type(s) present in the park (85%)
Selects two locations, but locations do not demonstrate the predominant rock type(s) present in the park (55%)
Does not select two locations that demonstrate the predominant rock type(s) present in the park (0%)
6
Location Selection: Tectonics
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and selected locations show keen insight into fundamental influences of plate settings on tectonic environment (100%)
Selects two locations that accurately demonstrate the tectonic environment of the park (85%)
Selects two locations, but locations do not demonstrate the tectonic environment of the park (55%)
Does not select two locations that demonstrate the tectonic environment of the park (0%)
6
Location Selection: Geologic History
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and selected locations show keen insight into geologic history of park (100%)
Selects two locations that accurately demonstrate the geologic history of the park (85%)
Selects two locations, but locations do not demonstrate the geologic history of the park (55%)
Does not select two locations that demonstrate the geologic history of the park (0%)
6
Location Selection: Structure(s)
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and selected locations show keen insight into internal and external processes (100%)
Selects two locations that accurately demonstrate the predominant subsurface or surficial structure(s) in the park (85%)
Selects two locations, but locations do not demonstrate the predominant subsurface or surficial structure(s) in the park (55%)
Does not select two locations that demonstrate the predominant subsurface or surficial structure(s) in the park (0%)
6
Geologic Features: Rock Type(s)
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and analysis is supported with embedded or linked video clips, soundbites, or graphics (100%)
Accurately analyzes the rock type(s) in the selected locations and explains how the analysis defines the relationship between the rock type(s) and the economic deposits, geologic settings, and structural formations in the park (85%)
Analyzes the rock type(s) and explains how the analysis defines the relationship between the rock type(s) and the economic deposits, geologic settings, or structural formations in the park, but with gaps in accuracy or detail or without a focus on the selected locations (55%)
Does not analyze the rock type(s) (0%)
6
Geologic Features: Tectonics
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and explanation is supported with embedded or linked video clips, soundbites, or graphics (100%)
Comprehensively explains why the selected locations in the park are convergent, divergent, or transform plate settings (85%)
Explains why the selected locations in the park are convergent, divergent, or transform plate settings, but explanation lacks accuracy or detail or is not focused on the selected locations (55%)
Does not explain why the selected locations in the park are convergent, divergent, or transform plate settings (0%)
6
Geologic Features: Geologic History
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and interpretation is supported with embedded or linked video clips, soundbites, or graphics (100%)
Accurately interprets geologic history of the selected locations in the park and explains how geologic processes and events have affected human and environmental concerns at the locations (85%)
Interprets geologic history and explains effects of geologic processes and events, but with gaps in accuracy or detail or without a focus on the selected locations (55%)
Does not interpret geologic history or explain how geologic processes and events have affected human and environmental concerns (0%)
6
Geologic Features: Structure(s)
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and description is supported with embedded or linked video clips, soundbites, or graphics (100%)
Accurately contrasts the processes that formed the structure(s) at the selected locations and explains how these processes have impacted the structure and formation of the landforms in the park (85%)
Contrasts the processes and explains how these processes have impacted the structure and formation of the landforms, but with gaps in accuracy or detail or without a focus on the selected locations (55%)
Does not contrast the processes that formed the structure(s) (0%)
6
Articulation of Response
Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy-to-read format (100%)
Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization (85%)
Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas (55%)
Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas (0%)
4
Earned Total 100%