DIGITAL SAMPLES FOR ONLINE LABS AND VIRTUAL FIELD EXPERIENCE

At many institutions of higher learning, introductory physical geology is a laboratory course. An essential challenge in teaching a lab course online is how to give students access to a variety of rocks (& minerals) for the sake of learning to identify them. Successful identification allows students to fit a given rock into their understanding of Earth processes, allowing them to interpret the sample’s story of formation. Mailed sample sets are one solution, but the samples in commercially prepared kits are often too small to really give a feel for the rock, & in some cases the quality of the sample may be low. In our online physical geology courses, we have adopted GigaPan imagery, including mineral & rock imagery produced using GIGAmacro technology. These are super-high resolution, averaging 1 billion pixels each, & are intended to be explored by a user. The user can see the broad, zoomed-out context of the sample, then zoom in for details such as mineral cleavage, fossils, conchoidal fractures, & grain shape. In composite, these visual clues aid the student in identifying the samples. Our Mid-Atlantic Geo-Image Collection now boasts more than 2000 images which range from the landscape scale to thin sections to images produced on the scanning electron microscope. Topographic maps & digital elevation models may also be presented in GigaPan format, with many advantages over paper 7.5’ quadrangles. We have supplemented these high-resolution (but flat) images with a suite of 3D models that intuitively convey shape. The 3D model collection spans rock samples, fossils, uniformities, & differentially-weathered outcrops – all united by a theme of having the 3D structure convey information unavailable in a 2D image. The media we have produced using these technologies is not limited to Physical Geology. Sand samples, sedimentary structures, & fossils offer ideal material for online Historical Geology courses, & we also offer a suite of structural geology specimens from classic sites around the world. Even if a course is not constrained by being fully online, these materials offer opportunities for students to get increased access to a variety of instructive samples, outcrops, & landscapes, & to practice with concepts & skills as pre-lab or post-lab homework activities. All materials are available free for any geoscience instructor to use.