A VIDEO SERIES TO EXPLAIN THE CRUST AND SEDIMENTARY BASINS OF THE UNITED STATES, AND ITS ASSESSMENT: A PROGRESS REPORT

An understanding of the basic physical properties our nation’s continental crust and its sedimentary basins, and how we know about these are essential knowledge for any undergraduate geoscience student. However, college geoscience students are not shown a simple E-W cross-section across the US, from the surface to the Moho. We have not found a crustal cross-section in any introductory Earth Science text, and alternate ways of providing this information to students are needed until textbooks catch up. We think that college students can best learn and retain key concepts about the crust and sedimentary basins of the US from videos designed for this purpose. To address this need, we are making a series of short (10-15 min) videos on three related topics: 1) Geophysical perspectives on US continental crust; 2) Geological perspectives on US continental crust; and 3) Sedimentary basins within the US. Using cross-sections, map views, and animated diagrams, the videos will show and explain how seismic refraction images US continental crust, the geologic evolution of that crust, and the sedimentary basins within and around it. The target audience is lower division university students, community college students, and the public. Assessment consists of two parts: 1) validation of the science explained; and 2) classroom assessment focused on student’s improved understanding of the US continental crust and its sedimentary basins. We have already finished the narrative for the geophysics video and geology videos. The geology video focuses on the age of US crustal provinces and introduces radiometric age dating. Samples of the video will be shown at this meeting and audience feedback will be solicited. Upon completion, all videos will be posted on the UTD Geoscience Studio Youtube channel < https://www.youtube.com/@UTDGeoscienceStudios >. We are also looking for partners interested to use and assess these videos in their classes.