GEOLOGY OF SKYLINE DRIVE: AN INTERGENERATIONAL FIELD COURSE IN SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK

Geology of Skyline Drive is a one-week summer field and laboratory course. In Summer 2009, half of the participants were university undergraduate students fulfilling a general education science requirement and half of the participants were members of the Lifelong Learning Institute (LLI), an organization for adults >50 years old. The goals of this course were to 1) educate students and the public about the geologic history of Shenandoah National Park (SNP) which is about a 30-minute drive from campus and town; 2) provide an avenue for undergraduates to interact with older adults from the surrounding community; and 3) develop participants’ observational and interpretive skills in the lab and field so that they can continue to explore the geologic features of the park with friends and family after the class has ended. In the first lab session, participants observe and interpret features of rocks from SNP using hand samples and thin sections. The next lab session and homework focuses on reading and interpreting geologic maps, including rock units, faults and folds, and topographic lines. The field trips develop field note-taking skills and focus on making observations and interpretations on the outcrop and regional scale. A simplified geologic cross-section of the Blue Ridge Mountains is provided as a working hypothesis for the field work. Undergraduate students take quizzes, turn in homework and lab assignments, and write a report summarizing their lab and field observations and connecting these observations to the geologic history of Skyline Drive. LLI participants are free to turn in as many or as few assignments as they wish. Undergraduates and LLI members are encouraged to interact in pairs or small groups during course assignments.