The discovery of a megalodon tooth on a ferromanganese nodule: An interdisciplinary Study and Research Path on the data derived from seafloor exploration.

A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) has collected a megalodon (Otodus megalodon) tooth coated with a manganese crust from a depth of 3090 m in the Pacific Ocean. This surprising find of remains from this iconic prehistoric predator provides a captivating real-world case study to engage students and inspire inquiry into deep-sea exploration.

We present the design of an inquiry-based proposal for a Grade 11 Geology and Environmental Science class, inspired by this recent discovery. The project is based on the Study and Research Paths (SRP) as developed within the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic (ATD). This methodology leverages the dynamics of scientific inquiry to foster the learning process. The proposal begins with an open and complex scenario, prompting students to investigate an initial guiding question. This generating question leads to the emergence of derived questions, whose exploration requires students to study and construct new knowledge, as well as develop tools to formulate answers. Furthermore, the proposed SRP adopts an interdisciplinary perspective by integrating mathematical and chemical skills into the geological research process.

By focusing the investigation on the data and knowledge gained from analysing the megalodon tooth and its deep-sea context, students will develop research skills while enhancing their understanding of seafloor geology. In particular, the petrological and radiometric analysis of the surrounding pillow basalts of Early Cretaceous age will lead them to work on the evidence supporting the plate tectonics theory. Other contextualized information, as the tooth’s location on the Mid-Pacific Mountains range or the chemical analysis of the ferromanganese crust, will have them inquire about the topography of the oceanic crust and the precipitation of trace elements on these deep ocean environments. Finally, students are expected to critically debate on the potential economic, scientific, and environmental impacts of the exploitation of the mineralogic richness of the seafloor.

In this research, we examine on one hand the conditions that facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration between scientific disciplines, understanding this as a genuine integration rather than mere superposition. On the other hand, we aim to identify the teaching tools that best support this interdisciplinary approach.