INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING IN GEOSCIENCE CLASSROOMS: INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES AND DEMONSTRATIONS

Over the past three years, the Rutgers University Earth and Planetary Science Department has participated in two two-week Earth science learning institutes designed to provide content knowledge to ~30 middle school and ~40 elementary school teachers from school districts throughout central New Jersey. During these institutes, scientists and education specialists collaborated to foster pedagogical growth in participants, teach through inquiry-based learning methods, and integrate concepts of math and science.

As a result of these institutes, we have amassed a collection of activities and demonstrations, drawn and modified from numerous sources. We will present several of these interactive instruction tools to which program participants enthusiastically responded. Skills and concepts targeted by these activities include relative dating, rock identification, sedimentary environments, fossils and taphonomy, and topographic maps. We will also present methods to reinforce lessons and help students synthesize information. These activities can be incorporated directly into high school or college-level introductory geology laboratories, and can easily be modified to facilitate instruction in higher-level undergraduate geology courses. A list of all activities, as well as instructions and worksheets for the activities, are available upon request from the author.