A Volunteer K-12 Environmental Education Program: A Model for Early Geological Education

In some places, geological education in secondary schools has been taught as a non-college preparatory or remedial science. This is incongruous with the projected shortage of qualified geologists facing our nation today and in the near future. A volunteer environmental education program in a rural Alabama county is examined as a potential mechanism for introducing geology to K-12 students in a positive and relevant manner. This program was developed in the mid 1990s to teach a science-based environmental curriculum covering specific topics of interest to the residents of the county, such as groundwater as a water supply source and groundwater contamination by agricultural chemicals and septic systems. Volunteers in the program were trained to make interesting and professional presentations of course material designed specifically for the program by qualified environmental and geoscientists. Lessons learned from this program are presented from the perspective of a geologist and university instructor of geology.