STARTING EARLY: GEOSCIENCE LITERACY AND CAREER EXPLORATION FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

Despite the generally positive outlook for careers in geoscience, many university geoscience departments must make a substantial effort to recruit students into their major. Part of the reason that fewer students choose to major in geoscience in college is because fewer high school students take earth science courses than take biology, chemistry, or physics. We are addressing this problem by introducing middle school students to a variety of geoscience activities and careers through the Geoscience in Middle School (GIMS) program. GIMS is a 3-year project jointly developed by researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill that is aimed at increasing earth science literacy and career interest in middle school students. GIMS is a year-round program that teaches students about geological science, geospatial techniques, human impact on the environment, as well as career and personal development. These topics are not covered in the science curriculum in middle school, and students commonly lack the opportunities to learn in the field using a hands-on, problem-solving approach.

The activities include several field-based activities during the fall that introduce the students to field geology and the use of GIS and other geospatial techniques. The geologic field work is located around Raleigh, NC and is focused on a major, ancient fault zone that transects the area. Students gather geospatial data using handheld GPS receivers and they plot their data using GIS software. During the spring semester the students attend three career and personal development sessions where they learn about their own career interests as well as career opportunities in the geosciences. During the summer is a week-long camp that includes more geologic field work, geospatial data gathering and analysis, and career activities.

Surveys were given to the students at various times during the year-long program. Results of pre-and-post t-tests on mean scores showed small but significant increases in geoscience knowledge and interest in geoscience careers. As part of this project we will follow the students into high school to see how many enroll in geosciences courses.