ENGAGING STUDENTS WITH ROCK EXPOSURES - ASKING SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS IN THE FIELD

How can you get students to ask and answer questions that engage them with the palaeoenvironmental processes active at the time of deposition?

The ‘prove it’ approach invites groups with previous fieldwork experience to examine an exposure and then to speculate on the environment of deposition. Did deposition occur under water or on land? What were the energy levels? If under water, what was the likely water depth, clarity, salinity, temperature, conditions for life, etc? They are then invited to ‘prove it’ by seeking evidence in the rock exposure to substantiate their views.

In the ‘What was it like to be there?’ approach, having studied and discussed an exposure, students are invited to mentally transport themselves back to the environment at the time of deposition. Suitable leading questions include: If you were standing on this bedding plane when the sediments were being deposited – Would you be in the air, in water or under water? If under water would you have needed a snorkel, scuba gear or a bathysphere? Would the surface be solid or would you sink into it? Would you feel warm or cold? What could you see, hear, taste/smell? Would you want to stay or leave quickly?

The ‘interactive simulation’ approach involves using simple apparatus to ‘recreate’ the features seen in an exposure and the processes that formed them. Simulations tested in the field with teachers have included: bedding, ripples, cross bedding, varves, turbidity currents and hydrothermal mineralisation.

Each of the three approaches has been warmly welcomed by practising and trainee teachers with such comments as –‘Completely novel and provocative. It asked questions I’d not considered.’ and ‘It was a brilliant day. It’s difficult to aim a field trip at such a mixed bunch… but I think we all found a level we could relate to. ... I never lost interest once and it was a really good approach to make us work for answers.’ Evaluations showed that the potential for impacting on future fieldwork practice was high.

The approaches provide different ways of helping students to engage with rock exposures, developing not only investigational skills but also a range of thinking and argumentation skills. Probably most importantly, they bring geoscientific approaches and palaeoenvironments ‘alive’ in ways students will not forget.