A NEW GEOLOGIC MAP OF LEHIGH GORGE STATE PARK AND DEVELOPMENT OF A WEB, INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING MODEL FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION

Lehigh Gorge State Park, located between the towns of Jim Thorpe and White Haven in east-central Pennsylvania, follows the winding path of the Lehigh River as it carves tight incised meanders in folded Late Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. A new 1:24,000 scale geologic map has better described the sedimentology, stratigraphy, and structural geology of the park in the context of a web, inquiry-based learning model targeting an 8th-grade geoscience audience. A cross-section, constrained by stereonet plots of bed attitudes shows that the folds are parallel, upright and have open limbs. These observations are best explained by decollement folding with a detachment located in middle Devonian shale not exposed in the Park. The new map also helps explain apparent variations of the thickness of the Mississippian-Devonian Spechty Kopf Formation which is revealed to have both an erosional base and top. The online educational product (http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/envirosci/geology/gorge/index.html) includes modules for reading and using geologic maps, understanding stratigraphy and sedimentary rocks, methods and tools of geologic mapping, interactive labs, and an interactive trail guide for students who visit the park. This project, completed as a M.S. thesis, was funded through the U.S. Geological Survey EDMAP program and coordinated by the Lehigh Earth Observatory (LEO) which provided both undergraduate field assistants as well as web expertise. The project represents a pilot effort in teaming up academics, Pennsylvania DNR, and EDMAP to generate a project dedicated to public education both in and outside of the classroom. All map and educational products are available in electronic form from Lehigh University or the State Park visitors center.