ROCK – ON! A HANDS-ON LABORATORY EXPERIENCE DEVELOPED FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SCIENCE SPECIALISTS

A workshop was developed for elementary school science specialists as an outreach component of the NSF-funded GK-12 project at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Partnership for ENERGIZing Science in Urban Schools . The objectives of the half-day program were three fold: 1) to provide teachers with background information, based on lab activities, to enhance their teaching of the FOSS (Full Option Science System) Earth Materials module; 2) to facilitate the use of the Pittsburgh region as a natural classroom for learning about earth science; and 3) to introduce teachers to available educational resources and experiences beyond those explicitly provided by the school district.

At the heart of the workshop were two hands-on activities centered on the “big idea” of the Earth Materials module: minerals and rocks have properties and you can use these properties to identify samples. Each activity was prefaced with short lectures given by a University of Pittsburgh Geology faculty member. To assist teachers in making specific connections between the Earth Materials module and the content presented during the workshop, a short presentation was provided by a science resource teacher. Also included was a brainstorming session wherein the teachers were able to ask questions, share relevant experiences from their own classrooms, and discuss different teaching methods for the module. The program ended with a presentation by an education specialist from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History on resources available to teachers at the museum. Mini lab manuals and Pittsburgh Rocks! rock kits were provided to each teacher to take back to their classrooms. Surveys were completed by each teacher at the conclusion of the workshop. Many teachers expressed that felt better prepared and had a higher confidence level about teaching the Earth Materials module to their students after participating in the workshop. Communication with many of the attendees after the workshop reinforced their initial appreciation of the technical information provided and the benefits they had experienced as a result of the experience. The success of this workshop within the Pittsburgh Public School District prompted teachers to ask for similar workshops to support the teaching of other FOSS modules.