AN INSPIRED OBJECTIVE: MOTIVATING THE ARTS IN GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION

Art and Science in education have always worked hand-in-hand to create a better conceptual understanding of the topics being taught. This undertaking of using both entities yields to a comprehension that is far more than of simple facts, but rather an awareness of the profound and inexplicable. The arts have shown to level the learning field when it comes to socio-economic divisions. When the under-funded schools are forced to make cuts, the arts are the first to go, creating a greater gap in the landscape of educational equality. The Buffalo Geosciences Program (BGP) has made it a stamp of its teaching repertoire to use the arts to help regain this balance. The arts have proved to encourage interest and cause more stimulation of the mind and the impact of an application with the sciences is rather significant when it comes to a child's learning.

BGP's central goal is to increase the number of underrepresented students in the geosciences. Statistics show that the majority of the underrepresented students in western New York are in schools where funding is low, consequently receiving little art in their education. Our program has created a system of outreach and surveying in the Buffalo Public Schools to track the influence of art and its use in the geosciences. The outreach participants are given a lecture on any one of a variety of geological topics and are then asked to show their understanding of the talk by answering information based questions. This presentation is then followed by another one that has an artistic foundation, ranging from visual/hands on activities to science based performances. Ultimately, the participants show us how the use of the second presentation has broadened their understanding of the topic by responding to additional questions. Through this system, we are able to understand what works and what does not, so that we can make our outreach more effective.

The proof of art's influence is the purpose of the system, and our use of this verification is what will make for a successful learning environment. This poster will encompass the process of understanding the necessity for the arts in the geosciences, and BGP's use of this understanding to better its educational outreach in areas of western New York.