"TAKE A (GEOLOGIC) JOURNEY AROUND PENNSYLVANIA ...": PA DCNR INTERACTIVE ONLINE MAP RESOURCES - A TREASURE TROVE FOR THE GEOSCIENCE EDUCATOR TEACHING THE TECTONIC HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Geoscience educators will find the Pennsylvania (PA) Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) online interactive map resources (http://dcnr.state.pa.us/learn/interactivemapresources/index.htm) to be an excellent, useful educational tool – truly a treasure trove of information. Educators may find utility for these online resources in many ways, such as exploration of PA’s geologic and glacial histories, earth resources, landscape development, human-environment interactions, natural landmarks and parks. The resource provides access to 1) A Gallery of Story Maps, many with geologic foci, 2) PaGEODE (PA Geologic Data Exploration), an interactive map with information about PA geology, including access to publications and the ability to download / extract GIS data, and 3) Open Data, an online repository of GIS data on PA geology.

Among many maps, I use especially the PA State Parks, Forests and Geology Interactive Map (http://www.gis.dcnr.state.pa.us/maps/index.html) to guide entry-level undergraduate students through the tectonic history of PA. To encourage participation and aid understanding, this web map has searchable geology layers to provide portals for in-depth exploration into specific aspects of PA geology. Geology map layers can be highlighted to focus on the spatial distribution of these aspects. The map also provides location-specific clickable bedrock geology descriptions and a map legend that includes bedrock and surficial geology as well as other features.

In a synthesis exercise in PA Rocks: The Geology of Pennsylvania, a first-year-experience geology course at Edinboro U of PA, I specifically have students use this web map, coupled with educational materials I’ve created and other online resources. Students first summarize the tectonic history of PA by deciphering a schematic geologic cross that depicts the geologic history of PA in a nutshell. They then reconstruct the Tectonic Cycle by using the description of events from the cross section and referring to the online publication entitled “The Geological Story of PA”. Lastly, by using the PA DCNR interactive map to match Outstanding Geologic Features in PA particularly linked to the tectonic story with their appropriate geologic descriptions, students investigate specific sites across PA that chronicle this history.