Page 144 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: Science, 2008 (revised)

Grade 12, University Preparation
d1. analyse, with reference to geological records, the relationship between climate, geology, and life on Earth, and evaluate contributions to our understanding of changes in Earth systems over geological time;
d2. investigate geological evidence of major changes that have occurred during Earth’s history, and of the various processes that have contributed to these changes;
d3. demonstrate an understanding of how changes to Earth’s surface have been recorded and preserved throughout geological time and how they contribute to our knowledge of Earth’s history.
D1. Relating Science to Technology, Society, and the Environment
D2. Developing Skills of Investigation and Communication
d. recording eArth’S geologicAl hiStory
OVERALL EXPECTATIONS
By the end of this course, students will:
THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | science
SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS
By the end of this course, students will:
d1.1 analyse the relationship between climate and geology, and, using geological records, assess the impact of long-term climate change on life on Earth [AI, C]
Sample issue: Geological records provide scien- tists with important evidence about climate change and changes in life on Earth. Not all scientists agree about the significance and meaning of geological evidence, however, and there is disagreement about the accuracy of some dating techniques.
Sample questions: What do changes in atmos- pheric conditions recorded throughout the geological record tell us about past and present environmental conditions? How have the patterns of ocean currents changed as a result of contin- ental drift, and how has this affected Earth’s climate? What environmental and evolutionary changes are seen from the Devonian period to the Carboniferous period?
d1.2 evaluate the significance of contributions, including Canadian contributions, to our under- standing of geological time and of changes in Earth systems over time (e.g., the contributions of Raymond A. Price; the Canadian contribution to the development of Landsat) [AI, C]
Sample issue: Canadian geologist John Tuzo Wilson devised the idea of “hot spots” – magma that remains stationary under moving plates – to account for the formation of volcanic chains like the Hawaiian Islands. He also developed the concept of transform faults to explain phenomena like the San Andreas Fault. Explore the signifi- cance of these contributions to the study of plate tectonics.
Sample questions: What contributions have Canadian scientists made to the study of sedi- ment and glacial records, and how have these contributions increased our understanding of long-term changes in Earth systems? What role have Canadians played in the development or use of technological applications such as Radarsat, and how have these applications contributed to our knowledge of Earth systems?
By the end of this course, students will:
d2.1 use appropriate terminology related to Earth and its geological history, including, but not limited to: Milankovitch cycles, era, epoch, period, parent isotope, hot spot, paleomagnetism, and index fossil [C]
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