COMBINATION OF FIELD EXPERIENCE WITH VIRTUAL GEOLOGY DEVELOPMENT FOR K-12 TEACHERS TO ENHANCE EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION

A recent survey indicates that K-12 students from Southeastern Wisconsin received lower test scores on earth science subjects than they did on other areas of science subjects. This is caused partly by the lack of students' interest in earth science as compared to other science subjects such as biology, and partly by the way that earth science is taught in K-12 schools. A funding was provided by Virtual Initiatives for Technology, Teaching and Learning (VIT2AL) of Wisconsin PK-16 Partnerships and Initiatives to improve the earth science literacy of K-12 students in southeastern Wisconsin by enabling science teachers to combine hands-on methods with virtual geology field trips in their delivery of an Earth Science curriculum. The project involved a three phases professional development opportunities to 10-15 science teachers by increasing their experiential expertise in earth and environmental sciences and by enhancing their ability to deliver content using the Internet. A series of intensive activities including laboratory hand specimen examination and identification as well as local and regional field trips were conducted in conjunction with Chiwaukee Academy (which serves K-12 teachers from both Racine and Kenosha Counties and Northern Illinois). Systematic development of internet-based virtual field trips using FrontPage, and eventually use of the developed virtual geology field trips in class throughout K-12 Earth Science sections were performed.