CEMETERIES AS SITES FOR INTRODUCTORY-LEVEL EARTH SCIENCE RESEARCH

There is great value to incorporating research experiences into introductory-level earth science courses for non-science majors. The process of implementing the scientific method enforces content knowledge while developing skill sets. It is also important for students to see the research through to completion by either writing or presenting their final results. This early introduction to the research process prepares future scientists and non-scientists to practice hypothesis formation, data collection, analysis, and reporting.

A cemetery provides an ideal location for student investigative research. Cemeteries are easily accessible in all communities and provide a field location for a non-cookbook style of laboratory activity. Students can examine tombstone weathering rates, reinforcing rock identification. Students may collect cemetery demographic data, comparing the longevity and survivorship data with local environmental events and impacts. These types of studies can require students to practice hypothesis formation before traveling to the cemetery, learn how to collect and organize data, and process data to report in tabular and/or graphical form. Small cemetery-based research projects are appropriate for presentation in campus undergraduate research fairs and, depending upon the depth and scope of the project, at state academy of science meetings and discipline-based regional conferences. In addition to the scientific investigations, students can broaden their investigation by connecting their data with the local history. And a variety of cemetery data sets exist online for regional to national comparisons.

Students respond very positively to a field-based cemetery investigation. Student comments mention that using data about tombstones brings a real life example to the forefront. Other comments state that students really enjoyed the research because of the importance of the research, and now they feel confident in reading a graph and interpreting results in a lab report.

Cemeteries provide a location for true scientific and multidisciplinary research. A wide range of investigations can be conducted in cemeteries that are accessible to students in lower-division science courses.