THE YOUNG EARTH SCIENTISTS (YES) – INQUIRY LEARNING USING REAL AND VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Over the past four years, the Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) University Museum and SIUC Department of Geology have cooperated in the coordination and expansion of the Young Earth Scientists (YES) project. During this time, YES has fostered critical thinking in elementary schools across southern Illinois using learner-centered, inquiry-driven, constructivist based learning. YES participants have developed supportable hypotheses about the prehistoric nature of the fossil sites near their schools by combining their own collection and analysis of specimens with information gained through Internet inquiries to SIUC subject matter experts. Students at geographically distant schools have compared site data and analyses by using Internet communication and by sharing still images and video on CD ROM. Future expansion of YES involves the creation of virtual fossil sites (using 3D projection) as a means of bringing the project to schools with no viable physical site nearby.