FROM PEBBLES TO MOUNTAINTOPS

Geologists and children follow similar paths in their study of earth science. When they encounter a new rock, they first observe its properties. They communicate their observations by recording in field notebooks or journals and by talking with each other. They compare their observations of the new rock with other data and observations they have made. They organize their data and consider relationships between other rocks and phenomena. They begin to make inferences about the rock’s origins.

Children follow a similar path in their study of earth science. Children exercise these scientific thinking processes at different times as they develop. The Full Option Science System (FOSS) program developed at the Lawrence Hall of Science, Unversity of California at Berkeley, capitalizes on children's cognitive levels in its hands-on science investigations. This session will focus on the FOSS Earth Science strand to demonstrate how earth science concepts can build and spiral through the K-8 curriculum. At grades PreK–2, observations and comparisons of rock properties and words to describe properties occupy the youngster’s mind. Grade 3–4 students exercise their organizing skills as they seriate, group, and classify earth materials. Grade 5–6 students can identify relationships between earth materials, such as the relationship between stream slope and erosion. Students in grades 7 and 8 use their prior knowledge to make inferences about the Earth's history, using the Grand Canyon as their virtual study site..

Discussion will consider how these ideas can be applied to earth science curricula to enhance student learning and appreciation of the earth sciences.