RETROFITTING ROCK AND MINERAL KITS INTO AN INQUIRY TEACHING AND LEARNING FORMAT

2000-2001 was the first year that entering high school freshmen were required to take an Earth/Environmental science course in North Carolina. Earth/Environmental science teachers have expressed a need for instructional materials that are aligned with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. In response, the NC Geological Survey, local public school teachers, local universities, and the NC Department of Public Instruction have developed materials that enhance the effective implementation of the revised Standard Course of Study.

This project builds upon previous, highly popular materials developed in the mid 1990's that consisted of sets of rocks and minerals. Thousands of these sets, which included hands-on "canned" activities, were delivered gratis to elementary and middle schools statewide. The kits have been redesigned for high school students and refocused as inquiry investigations designed to develop skills necessary for identifying rocks and minerals, and constructing, reading and interpreting geologic maps. This approach is meant to promote the development of fundamental skills that will be needed to collect meaningful data in a natural setting such as an outcropping of rock.

The kits will fulfill the following objectives from the Standard Course of Study: 1.01 Analyze the dependence of the physical properties of minerals on the arrangement and bonding of their atoms. 1.02 Classify the three major groups of rocks according to their origin, based on texture, mineral composition, and the processes responsible for their formation. 1.03 Assess the importance of the economic development of earth's finite rock, mineral, fossil fuel and other natural resources to society and our daily lives. 1.06 Interpret topographic, soil, geologic, and other maps and images.

In three years of surveying teachers at the state science teacher's conference, rock and mineral and map kits remain their top requests. The revision of our kits is focused on moving the teachers from preplanned or "canned" material towards inquiry investigations. Recent research supports that students who have an active role in constructing their own knowledge base through investigations are more successful in the subject matter.