Activity Summary: Students will be able to describe what foraminifera are and how they provide evidence of past oceanic conditions.

In this lesson, students will use data on microfossils recovered from the ODP Leg 130, site 806, to be able to track evidence of change over time. Students will learn about specific foraminifera (forams), and then analyze a sediment core to identify the dominant species found within it. The inferences students make regarding differences in abundance in specific forams can connect this lesson to a unit on geologic history, oceanography, or global ocean currents.

This lesson has been revised and updated based on Why Did They Drill There?