Papers & Projects

Ice Age
By Pete O'Neal

Cedar Bog offers us a chance to experience what much of Ohio was like during the Ice Age. This unit focuses on basic glacial geology and Pliestocene mammology in order to help students to understand further what the environment around Cedar Bog (and elsewhere) was like back then.

Glaciers profoundly affected the geology of Ohio.
    Atop the more ancient marine fossil-bearing rocks of the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian and other geologic systems exist various deposits formed by the great continental glaciers of the Pliestocene. These deposits can be classified into two basic types, outwash and till.
    Outwash is typically stratified and till is not. This basic difference arises from the differing ways these two classes of deposits formed, by melt waters (outwash) or by the direct action of the glacial ice itself (till).
    The life that once flourished here is quite different than that which we now commonly encounter. Cedar Bog gives us a glimpse of what the environment in Ohio was like at least in terms of the plants that lived here. Many of the fantastic forms of animal life that once lived here are now extinct. Mastodons, Mammoths, Giant Beavers and other wonderful mammals once roamed in what is now malls, schools and own our own backyards.
    The following activities are meant to aid in developing concepts of basic glaciology concepts and Pliestocene mammology.

Outwash vs.Till Exercise This is a two part exercise. The first part represents the formation of deposits of till. The second, represents outwash. After students do their "after" sketches, have them write a journal entry about what they observed. They should also include how these models might relate to actual events in nature.

Glacial Melt Exercise Using the accumulation of snow fall plowed into piles, students make regular observations to discover: What will happen to this pile of snow as it melts?

Great Big Pliestocene Mammals Exercise This is a two part exercise. The objective of the entire project is to learn the names, sizes, and inferred lifestyles of some of the extinct mammals that once inhabited Ohio during the Ice Age. During part one of this exercise, students are led in this activity to explore the evidence that the great big Pleistocene mammals (Mastodon, Mammoth, Saber Toothed Cat, Giant Beaver, Giant Ground Sloth, Short-faced Bear, Elk Moose, Woodland Musk Ox) existed, their inferred lifestyles, and the environment in which they lived. The students will use research and creative presentations to reveal their findings. During part two of this exercise, students will use the descriptions and size data gathered in part one of GREAT BIG PLEISTOCENE MAMMALS, each group (or individual) will use meter sticks to measure, and sidewalk chalk to create life-size playground drawings of the ice age mammals that were reported upon.

My Backyard During the Ice Age Exercise Using the knowledge and ideas gained in this unit to "reconstruct" an Ice Age scene.