FIELD GEOLOGY: A DIFFERENT WAY TO TEACH GEOLOGY TO HIGH SCHOOLERS

Begun in 1995, Field Geology teaches geology to students in grades 10-12 through a series of field trips. There are no weekday meetings like a “regular” class. Field Geology meets on six Saturdays from December to February, on a long weekend in early March, and during Spring Break. The Saturday trips are to sites of geologic interest usually within two hours of Charlotte. A typical Saturday opens with a short introduction in the classroom of some geologic concept—subduction, plutons, transgression/regression, sedimentary rocks, etc.—and then heads out to the field to see it for real. In the field the emphasis is on identifying rocks, on trying to figure out the history of the rocks, and on simple mapping and applied trigonometry exercises. In March the class goes on a long weekend of caving to the Cumberland Plateau in Sewanee, TN. Spring Break is spent flying to Las Vegas and then driving around the Death Valley/Zion/Grand Canyon area for a week. Students receive a year’s credit for the course.