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SUPPORTING GEOLOGY INSTRUCTIONS IN GRADES K-8
We should focus first on early grades. Most geology taught in public schools is taught in grades K-8. In elementary school, geology is taught to all students, which is important if we want to influence public attitudes. Students in early grades are naturally excited by hands on science and if elementary school students become interested in geology, they will want to continue studying it in high school.
Elementary school science teachers work under many constraints. In most places, they are constrained in what they can teach by a curriculum framework, which is enforced by a test. They teach all fields of science. Most K-8 science teachers have not studied geology, and even those who have are not familiar with local conditions and resources. Moreover, few elementary schools have science laboratories, and collecting materials and developing exercises demands more time and knowledge than most of them have.
To get teachers to make geology teaching more engaging, we need to study the curriculum, first science, then social studies and perhaps other fields, to identify places in which geology is mandated or into which geology could be integrated. We should identify resources in the community: people; institutions; sites; as well as local rocks and fossils. We should develop hands-on, inquiry based classroom exercises, which include all needed materials, and make them available to every school. These exercises should use local materials wherever possible (especially in the early grades) in order to encourage students to search for rocks and fossils locally. We should develop field trips, which include written materials tying the trip to the curriculum. We should develop a unified training program for all K-8 teachers. Teachers need to know more than how to teach as specific exercise. They need to understand how it fits into the general progress of the geology curriculum.