Earth Science Education – summer in-service for
teachers – July 13 – 16, 2009
TITLE: Geologic
History of
BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION: This Earth science course simplifies the fascinating and complex history of
·
Better understand
our area’s geologic past,
·
Become even more
curious about how landscapes change,
·
Appreciate
challenges faced by scientists in the past and present,
·
Maintain open and
questioning minds toward scientific explanations,
·
Put global
environmental changes into geologic perspective.
SYLLABUS: GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF
GOALS: Teachers will go outside with their students and
explain how sediments record the history of present geologic environments and
how bedrock records the history of deep geologic time. Teachers will appreciate
how
OBJECTIVES:
· The Overarching Objective is quality teaching: this course will deepen teachers’ content knowledge and provide them a field-based instructional strategy to inspire students to want to know more about their surroundings.
· Knowledge: Know the chapters of Utah’s geologic past. Distinguish bedrock from sediments.
· Comprehension: Understand four rules of historical geology: the rules of superposition, original horizontality, cross-cutting relationships, and the vastness of time.
· Analysis: Read the landscape for clues of geologic history. Determine age relationships of layers of bedrock.
APPROACH: The course revolves around the third day’s 8-hour field trip when teachers actually map rock units in the field. As preparation, on the first day, teachers learn the rules of determining age relationships of geologic units. The second day, teachers work through the story of Utah’s geologic past using the evidence that underpins the story. The third day is the field trip. Teachers role-model field geologists and map the age relationships of rocks at the mouth of Parleys Canyon. After lunch, teachers interpret the panorama of Wasatch Front geology as seen from the I-15 corridor and at closer range along Wasatch Boulevard. The fourth day reviews concepts and challenges teachers to apply their knowledge to the subtle rock units of the Oquirrh Mountains.
PROJECTED OUTCOMES: After this course, teachers should understand how geologists figure out age relationships of rock units and construct the geologic history of a region. They should understand that Utah is a remarkable place to appreciate geologic history, perhaps the best of anywhere in North America. Given an outline of the chapters of Utah’s geologic past, they should be able to tell the geologic history of their school’s location.
BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION: This Earth science course simplifies the fascinating and complex history of
Utah’s geologic past. It encourages teachers to:
·
Better understand
our area’s geologic past,
·
Become even more
curious about how landscapes change,
·
Appreciate
challenges faced by scientists in the past and present,
·
Maintain open and
questioning minds toward scientific explanations,
·
Put global
environmental changes into geologic perspective.
The course is taught outside using local places as outdoor classrooms.
CONTENT: (a) historical geology of Utah; (b) structure
of Earth, Earth materials, fossils, tectonics and climate change; and (c)
geographic concepts of physiographic provinces including places names of
Wasatch Front landmarks. The course teaches present-day Utah scenery results
from the cumulative effects of geologic processes over time.
REQUIREMENTS: Participants must attend all four sessions. The course assumes an hour of homework for every class contact hour. Homework includes an initial, major reading assignment, a mapping exercise, and a written exercise to tell the geologic history of the participant’s schoolyard or a place in Salt Lake County seen from the school.
GRADING: The grade for the course is about 50% based on the final project; 30% on homework and class participation; and 20% based on the teachers’ ideas of how to use geologic history and Earth systems concepts in their classrooms.
NOTE: Participants (current teachers) who complete the course receive approximately $50 of text materials and classroom supplies.
INSTRUCTOR: Genevieve Atwood, Ph.D., former State Geologist of Utah; and, presently, Chief Education Officer, Earth Science Education, and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of Utah.
TARGET AUDIENCE: K-12 especially
4th grade (fossils, geologic features), 3rd grade
(organisms interact with their environment), and 5th grade
(environments and survival). THEMATIC LEARNING: theme of change, Utah studies.
|
DATE: |
TIME |
PLACE |
ADDRESS |
|
Monday, July 13 |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, July 14 |
|
Pleasant |
3280 South 8400 West |
|
Wednesday, July 15 |
8:00 AM – 4:00PM |
FIELD TRIP leaves from |
|
|
Thursday, July 16 |
|
|
13170 South 6000 West |
NUMBER OF CLOCK HOURS OF
CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION: 15.5 hours = 1 credit hour.
CLASS LIMIT: 30
REGISTRATION – THREE options, for information go to http://www.earthscienceeducation.org
… CACTUS, SUU; WSU masters. P.L.A.N.
SPECIAL SUPPORT from
Kennecott Utah Copper: Participants receive approximately $50 of text materials
and classroom supplies.
OUTLINE OF CLASS SESSIONS
Session 1: Introduction to
historical geology
·
Learn how to read
a geologic map and stratigraphic columns.
·
Understand concepts
of historical geology, the rules for deciphering a region’s geologic past.
·
Apply the rules to
determine relative ages of bedrock units of the Grand Canyon.
·
Learn how fossils
contribute to the understanding of Utah’s geologic past.
·
Recognize
characteristics of Utah: three physiographic provinces.
Session 2: Utah’s geologic
past and evidence from Salt Lake County
·
Appreciate
evidence of the history of our present landscapes
·
Hear the geologic
history of Utah, including dinosaurs, deserts, seas, basins, plate tectonics,
and how the landscape changed
·
Recognize how fossils
and rock types are clues to Utah’s geologic past
·
Sediments of the
past 20 million years tell the story of relatively recent environments.
·
Global climate
changes of the past few million years include cycles of glaciations, the presence
of large lakes (such as Lake Bonneville), and evidence for hotter / drier
climates than now.
Session 3: FIELD TRIP
·
First part: major
mapping exercise at the mouth of Parleys Canyon. Participants locate features
on a topographic map; distinguish major rock units; depict rock units and
boundaries; and transfer information into an orderly progression of rock units.
·
Second part:
Participants recognize different rock types of the Wasatch Range in Salt Lake
County. They determine age relationships of several rock units.
·
Third part: We
drive south on I-15 and view rock units from afar. We interpret the story of
Salt Lake County’s geologic past. Then we drive north along Wasatch Boulevard
and appreciate the joys of roadside geology distinguishing sediments from
bedrock and recognizing contrasting bedrock units.
Session 4: Review,
clarification, and extension of knowledge.
·
Apply rules of
geologic history to distinguish relationships of rock units of the Oquirrh
Mountains.
·
Practice telling
the story of geologic features in Salt Lake County.
·
Link the
landscapes and geologic history of
·
Discuss ways to
teach intended learning outcomes of Utah’s science core curriculum using Earth
science concepts and the Wasatch Front’s spectacular geology
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
INCLUDE:
Collaborative learning (e.g. Grand Canyon exercise);
Writing to learn (homework literacy project); Progressive development of skills
(from basic geography to mapping geology in the field); Role modeling inquiry
(e.g. session of “why” questions); Assessment (e.g. participant evaluation of
their own understanding); Learner centered, knowledge centered, and assessment
centered exercises.
Based on research including but not limited to: National Research Council, 2000. How People Learn, Chapter 6, The design of learning environments; National Research Council, 2000. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards; Center for Earth and Space Science Education, 2002. Revolution in Earth and Space Science Education, blueprint for change; and Harris, M.T. 2002. Developing geoscience student-learning centered courses, vol 50, Journal of Geoscience Education, p 515-523. Outdoor classroom activities attempt to incorporate concepts of Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv, 2006.
Resume of the Presenter: GENEVIEVE ATWOOD – on file