ENVIRONMENT SUCCESSION: GEOSCIENCE IN AN URBAN SETTING

As an NSF GK-12 fellow, I work with two public school teachers to enrich the learning experiences of their science students though encouraging inquiry-based, student-centered learning. My research interests center around primate ecology and conservation, specifically in Madagascar and West Africa. Global issues are extremely important, but it is difficult to communicate the importance of far- away ecosystems to students who lack an appreciation for the local environment, flora and fauna. To address this challenge, we provide opportunities for students to synthesize the classroom concepts of biology and geology into a holistic knowledge and appreciation of the world around them through field-based activities. The goal for the 10th grade class is to carry out a biological inventory of a local area and determine how abiotic factors including soil properties, underlying geology, weather, and disturbance regimes affect the biotic community. Students gathered data from a vacant lot near the school grounds and learned appropriate field- sampling techniques for soil and species diversity. Once the students have mastered this approach, they will replicate the study in a different setting, Enchanted Rock State Park, a granitic dome exposed as a result of the Llano uplift for comparison with the local data. Based on their knowledge of the geologic history of the area, the students will determine whether the biotic community is an accurate descriptor of the abiotic processes. Teaching students in an inner- city urban classroom setting, field sampling techniques generated some unique challenges the students expressed fear concerning the outdoors and were hesitant to explore an uncultivated area. To address students’ discomfort, lesson plans and approaches were modified to have an indoor component. This emphasized the cooperation of the class as a research team with both field and laboratory units working interdependently to achieve a common goal.