Shades of History

This is more of a demonstration than an activity using

regular classroom window shades. The cross-sections
shown have actually been carefully thought out to be
useful for several levels of geologic history instruction.

To make the shades, it is important to first of all get

permission from any administrator who will get ticked
off at permanently defacing the shades!

Second, plan it out well. Think about what you want the
shades to show. I started with index cards and sketches.

When drawing on the shades, be sure to account for the

fact that the shades roll up and cover the drawing. It
would be a shame to make a beautiful drawing on to
have it too long to completely display. I also included
surface features (trees and people) to show that these
are exposures.

At the first level each shade makes a good sequence of events to solve. At this point, do not
discuss the significance of the fossils or the heavy red line.

Shade #1 shows a sequence highlighting superposition

with unconformities. (click the shades for a larger
picture)

Shade #2 focuses on a fault and then an unconformity

above it. This one is particularly useful because you
rarely see sequences that have deposition after a fault.
Students need to see how younger layers will continue
to be deposited flat and level after a disturbance
(folding, tilting and faulting). This is evident in the
limestone layer that is thick on the left and thin on the
right but flat on the top.

Shade #3 shows an igneous intrusion.

Shade #4 shows another intrusion but this time we

don’t see the magma pipe coming from the bottom
(also something that is rarely shown in these types of
puzzles).

At the next level, the shades can be used to illustrate

correlation. Each section matches well with the others
but each section has some unique difference to make it
a little less obvious and more challenging. Note that
shades 3 & 4 exactly fit together but are made at
different heights to illustrate uplift of one area. Only
when the shades are offset do the layers re-align. It is
particularly interesting to point out that in shade #1
there is a very big gap represented by the unconformity
because this sequence shows both the oldest (trilobite)
and youngest (human) fossils separated by only a few
layers.
For the last level, the shades lead to a discussion of volcanic time markers and asteroid impacts.
At first I say the line is like a volcanic marker and every layer just below it was formed at the
same time. Finally, the true identity of the red line is revealed when you get to discuss asteroid
impacts and the significance to the end of the dinosaurs.

The shades seem to be most effective when you don’t really give them too much attention and
use them as aides for very small bites of information.

Fifteen years of
Medina On-Line
1994-2009
Email: mrsciguy@optonline.net