Actvity Summary: Students will be able to analyze data from cores taken from the seafloor to describe patterns in climate fluctuations throughout Earth’s history.
Students will practice the skill of interpreting scientific data by describing and finding patterns in ocean sediment core samples that can be related to Earth’s climate history, particularly to the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. This lesson can be used in connection with topics related to geologic history, Earth’s climate system, climate change, or ocean acidification.
This lesson has been revised and updated based on Recognizing Patterns in Earth’s Climate History.
author: Angela Zier
edited by Lindsay Mossa
edited by Lindsay Mossa
- Standard E: Earth and space science
- Patterns
- Stability and change
- Analyzing and interpreting data
- Constructing explanations and designing solutions
- ESS1. C The history of the planet Earth
- ESS2.B Plate tectonics and large-scale system interactions
- ESS2. D Weather and climate
- ESS3.D Global climate change