BUILDING SCIENTIFIC LITERACY FOR GEOLOGIC TIME

Improving science literacy for Earth science teachers is raising the quality of Earth science education for both teachers and students. Earth Science has the lowest percentage of qualified teachers, the least amount of professional development offered, and highest percentage of teachers who are teaching out field. In-service teachers indicated they did not fully understand the rigors of science and needed classes that would give them field and research experience. Two solutions were developed, Project PIES and Paleontology of the Eastern United States. Both were designed to involve teachers in scientific research integrated with concepts related to geologic time. We followed three basic steps; first we trained the teachers in field methods, second they collected and documented their data, finally they compiled and analyzed the data. We took teachers from every grade into the field to learn about fossil, paleontology, and how determine relative geologic time. They examined unconformities, folds and faults, and stratigraphy. We took them to compare several different types of ancient and modern depositional environments. Fossils were collected from every time period in the Phanerozoic across the Appalachian Mountains, Mesozoic Basins, and Atlantic Coastal Plain, More importantly teachers got first hand experience in data collection, analyses, and the application of the scientific method. Samples were identified, documented, and compiled in a database for their research projects. As teachers analyzed their data they discovered the principles of biostratigraphy and relative age dating such as; first occurrences, last occurrences, and extinction. Final projects consisted of the developing curriculum and action research about their student's performance on Historical Geology, Paleontology, and Geologic Time. More than 200 teachers have participated, effecting about 5000 students per year. These teachers now have the resources and experience to teach concepts related to geologic time in a way that is both meaningful and scientifically literate.