Connecticut's Geological History (1 hour)

Look around you, Connecticut's landscape has changed dramatically since the time dinosaurs walked the earth. Examination of local geology will help students understand the forces that created their own backyard, as well as the rest of the world. 

To begin this program your class will be divided into five smaller sub-groups, each of which, will be given a box containing a collection of twelve rocks from Connecticut. An investigation into the three basic groups of rocks and the forces that create them will prepare the students for a field trip through geologic time. The students will first journey back 190 mya when Connecticut cracked down the center and released the lava flows that created the Traprock ridgeline that forms the backbone of Connecticut. Then the students will follow the millions of years of erosion and sedimentation that slowly cemented the sandstone, shales, and conglomerates of the Central Connecticut River valley. In a trip even further back in time 500 mya students will see the beginnings of continental collision and the creation of a supercontinent called Pangaea. This collision caused the formation of Connecticut’s Upland terranes, mountains which attained heights of 30,000 feet. Then students will learn how these once majestic peaks, taller than Everest succumbed to the relentless forces of erosion and glaciation that in time created the Eastern and Western Highlands. Students will learn of Alfred Wegner, an Austrian geologist, who first proposed the theory of Continental Drift in 1911 and how his discovery has shaped our present view of the world’s landscapes. Charts will illustrate the changes that have occurred to the earth’s continents in the last 500 million years. Afterwards, flip books will be passed out that will show the movement of the earth’s plates from 750 mya to present, these will help the students visualize Continental Drift in a matter of seconds.  A brief look into how the geologic resources affected the people and economies of Connecticut will conclude the student’s journey through geologic time.