INQUIRY-BASED EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION IN STRATIGRAPHY AND GEOLOGIC TIME FOR PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AT THE OAKES QUARRY, FAIRBORN, OH

Fun, education and research are the goals of the new Oakes Quarry Park in Fairborn, OH. With an 8-meter highwall, fossil-rich limestone and various spoil piles for collecting, the geology park offers many opportunities to learn about Ohio geology and concepts in stratigraphy and geologic time. To improve the educational viability of the newly formed park, an inquiry-based high school curriculum in geologic time was developed, culminating in a student-designed inquiry project and fieldtrip to the park. Inquiry-based lessons have been shown to enhance student understanding of and attitudes towards science by addressing different learning styles and engaging students in active learning. The lessons in this curriculum utilize sample kits of rocks from the quarry, and include inquiry-based activities and group discussions focusing on relative and absolute dating, correlation, fossils and the geologic time scale. All of the lessons involve aspects of doing science, from making observations to making a hypothesis about the geology at the quarry and designing a study to test that hypothesis. The curriculum was piloted in an introductory geology course for pre-service teachers at Wright State University during three terms. Results of student work, teacher observations and curriculum-evaluation surveys indicate that the majority of the students benefited from the inquiry-based activities. Student understanding of geologic time, local geology, science pedagogy and science as a process improved, and the inquiry-based structure of the class increased student motivation to attend and participate in class. The majority of the students indicated on curriculum-evaluation surveys that they enjoyed the activities, preferred them to traditional lecture, could use variations of them in their future classes, and found them appropriate for high school students. To improve student inquiry projects and facilitate general understanding of the park's geology, a large block display of the strata at the quarry laid out in stratigraphic order is being designed that will allow students and visitors to examine and study the stratigraphy without getting too close to crumbling portions of the highwall. Interpretive signs and park brochures will describe each block in terms understandable to all audiences.