A BOULDER FIELD ADJACENT TO THE CLASSROOM—THE FRED WEBB JR. OUTDOOR GEOLOGY LABORATORY AT APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY

A central paradox of geology instruction is that we strive to teach students about rocks using homogenous hand specimens when, in fact, geologists sample many times from an entire outcrop and make observations at multiple scales of observation. Similarly, training geologists experientially by visiting as many distinct outcrops as possible is hampered by logistics of travel, land access, and tectonic setting. The Fred Webb Jr. Outdoor Geology Laboratory (rock garden), in addition to honoring its namesake’s career, provides partial solutions to these conundra. The rock garden presently holds 33 boulders (~1-4 tons each) representing igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks from four states (NC, VA, TN, and SC) and four physiographic provinces (Blue Ridge, Piedmont, Valley and Ridge, and Cumberland Plateau). Three decorative stone benches double as additional specimens (see map online at http://www.geology.appstate.edu/rockgarden.htm). These boulders are superior to hand samples for obvious reasons, including showing variation in texture and composition, cross-cutting relationships, bedforms, structures, xenoliths, and other features not typically visible in hand sample.

Weather permitting, the garden is accessible night and day year-round for K-12 education, public outreach, college geology courses at all levels, and even classes outside the discipline. Faculty and advanced majors in the Department of Geology regularly lead tours of the rock garden for school groups. These tours are often the first stop on campus for students and provide unique opportunities to touch on state standards related to geology, especially for 4^th, 6^th, and 9^th graders in the North Carolina school system. Hundreds of introductory college students and dozens of more advanced pupils complete rock garden exercises every semester. Furthermore, the garden is professionally landscaped and makes a pleasant addition to the campus that is often used by other classes as an aesthetic backdrop (and a playground by the campus day care center!). Constructing the garden involved numerous unique logistical hurdles and required extensive cooperation between university agencies, corporate donors, land owners, and generous alumni, but all parties have benefitted greatly from this unique contribution to the Appalachian landscape.