Instructional Television

Dirty Little Secrets: Foundations From the Past

One 30-minute lesson
Produced 2001 -- A PBS 45 & 49 Production
School use rights: unlimited
Grades 9-12 / Social Studies, Science
Teachers Guide (available online)
http://www.pbs4549.org/itv --> -->

In the early 1920s, construction began on the city center complex we now know as Tower City in Cleveland. At the time, engineers were faced with building a 52-story tower, which would become the tallest building outside of New York City. Not having the kinds of tools we use today to determine how to support such a structure, engineers used what was available to them: deep earth core samples. Recovered only recently by a team of local geologists, paleontologists and glaciologists at Cleveland State University and The University of Akron, these samples hold the region's geologic record of events over a 20,000-year period.

Dirty Little Secrets: Foundations From the Past reports on the joint scientific project by scientists at UA and CSU. The team's research includes looking at how old the various layers are; studying variations in water levels of both Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River; and determining what clues the vegetation holds about climate, water temperatures and the greenhouse effect.