CoreKids: INTEGRATING SUBSURFACE GEOLOGICAL DATA AND ANALYSIS INTO CLASSROOMS
The resulting program, CoreKids, has since received over $300,000 in support from foundations and has served over 10,000 students, teachers and parents from over 25 different school districts. It is a model of how universities, government and industries can work together to benefit the K-12 community and ensure that tomorrow’s citizenry is prepared to make the decisions required of them. The program has become an integral part of the curriculum at several school districts and is provided to schools without charge.
Four key ideas provided the framework for CoreKids learning modules: Earth is ancient, Earth is constantly changing, Earth is rich in natural resources, and Earth impacts us while we impact Earth. Current learning modules, presented in classrooms, at science fairs and during field trips to MGRRE, use geologic resources based at MGRRE – samples and data from Michigan’s subsurface - to illustrate these “big ideas” in ways that are relevant to students’ lives. All participants have the opportunity to put their hands on rocks from thousands of feet below the surface that are hundreds of millions of years old and explore topics such as historical geology, geological natural resources and climate change. Students are challenged as a group to discuss questions such as: How did fossil coral get deep under Michigan? Where did the salt underground come from? Why do we care about rocks anyway? What is in the rocks that we use every day? Online resources are available to teachers, students and the public.
Research has demonstrated that partnerships between scientists, K-12 students and educators result in benefits to all parties. Research has also documented the power of informal learning experiences to spark curiosity, engage interest in the sciences and result in academic gains for students. WMU’s CoreKids program provides a model for similar programs and partnerships that will build Earth science literacy.