Lab Purpose and learning objectives

Report, describe, and interpret your observations of several features found in the Pacific NW.

Formulate a hypothesis explaining how several landform features relate to each other and explain what took place to create them (Your story).

Use the scientific method to structure your exploration and explanations.

Instructions and Overview

a. You are going to investigate and solve a mystery about a geological phenomenon in our “backyard”.  You will be given several pieces of evidence and multiple clues and hints containing geologic information for you to observe, formulate hypotheses about, and interpret. 

b. Using the eight pieces of evidence provided, and the large map of the Northwest with their locations, make observations and interpretations and record these in the table provided You will type these up and upload these to Canvas.

 c. Hints are provided along with the evidence to help guide your group and should be used for discussion when making your observations and interpretations. You do not need answer these questions in your report. However, discuss each question as a group to learn about each piece of evidence so that you can come up with plausible interpretations and observations.

Step 2: Once you have investigated all eight pieces of geological evidence and have recorded your observations and thoughts, sit down with your group and develop a narrative of what you think happened based on the evidence. Include the ways each piece of evidence supports your description, i.e., what does your clue indicate about the larger picture.  For example, the presence of a sesame seed on my shirt might mean that I recently ate a Big Mac, but it could also mean I ate a sesame bagel.

Step 3. Using the scientific method (see page 5) write, independently of the group, a clear 500-600 word lab report compiling this information into a narrative explaining, or solving, the Pacific Northwest Geologic Mystery.  Note the typed tables of should be attached as appendices and can be referred to in the report, but do not count towards the 500-600 words.

GEOG102 Week 9

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Lab week 9: A Pacific Northwest Geologic Mystery

Lab Purpose and learning objectives
1. Report, describe, and interpret your observations of several features found in the Pacific

NW.

2. Formulate a hypothesis explaining how several landform features relate to each other and
explain what took place to create them (Your story).

3. Use the scientific method to structure your exploration and explanations.

Instructions and Overview
Step 1. a. You are going to investigate and solve a mystery about a geological phenomenon in

our “backyard”. You will be given several pieces of evidence and multiple clues and
hints containing geologic information for you to observe, formulate hypotheses about,
and interpret.

b. Using the eight pieces of evidence provided, and the large map of the Northwest with
their locations, make observations and interpretations and record these in the table
provided (see page 6). You will type these up and upload these to Canvas.

c. Hints are provided along with the evidence to help guide your group and should be
used for discussion when making your observations and interpretations. You do not need
answer these questions in your report. However, discuss each question as a group to
learn about each piece of evidence so that you can come up with plausible interpretations
and observations.

Step 2. Once you have investigated all eight pieces of geological evidence and have recorded
your observations and thoughts, sit down with your group and develop a narrative of
what you think happened based on the evidence. Include the ways each piece of evidence
supports your description, i.e., what does your clue indicate about the larger picture. For
example, the presence of a sesame seed on my shirt might mean that I recently ate a Big
Mac, but it could also mean I ate a sesame bagel.

Step 3. Using the scientific method (see page 5) write, independently of the group, a clear 500-
600 word lab report compiling this information into a narrative explaining, or solving, the
Pacific Northwest Geologic Mystery. Note the typed tables of should be attached as

Name: _____________________________________________________

Lab Day:_________________________ Lab Time:____________________

GEOG102 Week 9

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appendices and can be referred to in the report, but do not count towards the 500-600
words.

Grading:

10% Neatness, spelling, and grammar
30% Your observations and interpretation must be typed following the attached sheet
(page 6)
60% The 500-600 typed summary connecting the hints into a cohesive explanation of the
Pacific Northwest Geologic Mystery

What to hand in at Wednesday lecture during the last week of class
□ Typed observations and interpretations on attached sheet.
□ 500-600 word typed lab report

Lab Report Requirements
1. Lab reports must be typed. Standard one inch margins, double spaced, size 12 fonts are

required (either Times New Roman or Calibri). Your observations and interpretation sheets
can be size 10 font and single spaced.

2. A title, brief introduction and several well-organized paragraphs are mandatory. Use the
following headings to subdivide your report: Introduction (~50 -75 words), Method (~50-7

5

words), Observations and Interpretations (main body of the paper) (300-400 words), and
Conclusion (~50-100words). Attach the typed observation/interpretation tables from the lab
period as an appendix.

3. See the discussion of the scientific method on page 5 and use this to guide the observations
and interpretation section of your lap report.

4. Each paragraph should contain a topic sentence and the other sentences should support that
topic sentence. Each sentence must be complete, grammatically correct and use correctly
spelled words. Sentences and paragraphs must be clear in their meaning, not sloppy or
vague.

5. Reports must be uploaded to Canvas for your TA to grade.
6. Professional language should be used throughout the report. The report should be written in

the 3rd person (not 1st). Words should be technical and professional, not colloquial or slang.
Contractions (“they’re”, “we’re”, “it’s”) should be avoided.

7. The meaning of each sentence and paragraph must be clear. Do not assume that your TA
will understand your meaning if you use vague language, incomplete sentences, or if
sentences are not put together in a coherent manner. Your TA has been instructed not to try
to make sense out of sentences or paragraphs that lack organization or are poorly organized.

GEOG102 Week 9

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Relief Map of the Pacific Northwest (locations are approximate)

The Hints – Questions to Ponder… Where were glaciers present 15,000 years ago?

Do not answer these questions directly in your lab report. They are hints to help you
interpret what you observe at each station

1. McMinneville, Oregon
• How could a jökulhlaup (a subglacial outburst flood) have occurred in the Willamette

Valley? What does the distribution of erratics in the Willamette Valley tell you about
how they got there?

• What is the importance of identifying the rock type of an erratic? What does this tell you
about the history of the rock?

1

2
3 4 5

6

7

8

8

GEOG102 Week 9 4

2. Eastern Washington
• What processes (and how much force) result in rocks being stripped of soil? What

processes result in rocks being submerged in sediment?
• What is the relationship between the present day Columbia River and the Scabland

channels?

GEOG102 Week 9 5

3. Spokane, Washington
• When is a puddle muddy? When is it clear? How might that result in production of

rhythmites? A rhythmite consists of layers of sediment or sedimentary rock which are
laid down with an obvious periodicity and regularity.

• What does the number of layers in rhythmites tell you?

GEOG102 Week 9 6

4. Coulee City, Washington
• What processes can create rounded boulders like these? What natural processes can move

boulders from one place on the earth to another?
• What does the rock type tell you about where these boulders came from? What does it

mean if these rocks were a rock type very different than the rock near where they were
found?

• What if these rocks look very similar to rocks found in Montana?
•

5. Missoula, Montana
• What processes create a shoreline along a lake or reservoir?
• What does the presence of shorelines high on a mountainside above a valley mean? What

must have been present to create shorelines in these locations?

GEOG102 Week 9 7

6. Corvallis, Oregon
• The Willamette series of soils consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in

silty glaciolacustrine deposits.
• What processes contribute to the sudden deposition of large amounts of similar-sized

material?
• How is it possible that Reser Stadium has had both mammoth bones found beneath it

while also having been some 400 feet underwater all within the same geologic time?
• What processes could create very flat valleys, such as the Willamette Valley?
• What are some possible sources of the material that makes up Willamette Valley soils?
•

GEOG102 Week 9 8

7. Camas Prairie, Montana
• What processes create ripples in sand? What determines how big a ripple is?
• How could you get giant ripples in Montana?

8. Dry Falls, Washington
• Do waterfalls have enough energy to carry large rock or pull large rock out of the

ground? Do waterfalls move over time?
• What does the size of the waterfall tell you about the size of the river?
• What is the relationship between the modern river (Columbia?) and the scoured

channels?

GEOG102 Week 9 9

The Scientific Method

Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than
knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the
world.”

Use the following figures describing and illustrating the scientific
method to think about the Pacific Northwest Geologic Mystery

The right hand side of the figure below describing the use
scientific method to study the effects of dust on mountain
snowpack is a good template for the observation and
interpretation section of your lab report

GEOG102 Week 9 10

Hint
Location

Observations
(Just the facts)

Interpretations
(What do the facts mean?)

1

2

3

GEOG102 Week 9 11

Clue
Location Observations (Just the facts)

Interpretations
(What do the facts mean?)

4

5

6

GEOG102 Week 9 12

Clue
Location

Observations
(Just the facts)

Interpretations
(What do the facts mean?)
7

8

Additional
thoughts

(if
needed)