Cores for Kids

Activity Source: International Ocean Discovery Program

 

Background

The JOIDES Resolution is a ship that operates on behalf of the International Ocean Discovery Program and is one of a handful of vessels designed specifically to drill into the ocean floor for scientific research. The cylinders of sediment and rock that are recovered from the ocean floor — ​called “cores” — ​can be considered time machines, revealing secrets from Earth’s past about geology, climate change, and the origins and extremes of life. Every time there is a new core on deck, scientists aboard the JOIDES Resolution rush to figure out: the types and ages of sediments, and rocks that make up the core. Knowing the sediment type allows scientists to infer the ocean environment that formed each of the core’s layers. By identifying the age of the core, scientists can begin to tell the story of Earth’s past, by describing what happened at different points in Earth’s history. This activity will introduce students to the fundamental methods that scientists use to interpret the cores they recover from the ocean floor.

Materials

Procedure

  1. Use the links in the materials section to download the station posters and to print a copy of the data sheet.

  2. Station 1: Determine the age of fossils within a sediment core.

    a. View the fossils on the Station 1 poster.

    b. Use the FOSSIL KEY to find the age of each fossil.

    c. Write the age of each fossil on your data sheet.

  3. Station 2: Describe your own core.

    a. Read about the different materials you can find in a core on the Station 2 poster.

    b. Design a core by deciding what you want each section of your core to be made of.

    c. Fill in the rectangle on your data sheet to represent the material you chose for each section of the core.

    d. Describe each section of your core.

Analysis

  1. How do the ages of fossils change with increasing depth within a core?

    a. Why do the ages of fossils change with depth?

    b. Why do you think fossils are not found in every layer of a core?

  2. Why might the layers be different colors? What information might this give scientists studying the cores?

  3. What else might scientists study about the cores?

  4. Do all core layers have the same thickness? Why do you think this is?

Further Steps

Write a story to describe how the ocean changed over time, based on the core you created.

See the full activity

NGSS Connections

  • SEP: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
  • DCI: ESS1.C The History of Planet Earth
  • CCC: Stability and Change

SDG Connections