A UNIQUE EDUCATIONAL DISPLAY OF CONNECTICUT GEOLOGY IMPLEMENTING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND FIELDWORK

A newly constructed academic science building on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, CT has provided a unique opportunity to incorporate a number of unique educational displays for the Department of Earth Sciences. Among these, the most ambitious was the creation of a 12 x 15 ft wall composed of over 150, 8-12 inch diameter rock samples collected from across Connecticut to display the diverse geology of the state. This project was completed as part of multiple undergraduate theses under the guidance of two faculty members over a period of about six months. Fresh rock samples representing all major types of lithologies were collected and cut by students prior to permanent placement on the wall. The wall itself is divided into three sections, representing the three main physiographic provinces of the state: western highlands, central lowlands (Hartford Basin), and eastern highlands. The primary purpose of the rock wall is to serve as an educational tool for undergraduate courses at Southern as it provides year-round, hands-on access to a variety of native rocks and minerals. The larger scale of the rock samples, compared to typical classroom teaching collections, allows easy identification of mesoscopic structures and textures such as foliation in metamorphic rocks and bedding structures in sedimentary specimens. In addition to functioning as an undergraduate laboratory, the rock wall will also assist with K-12 and public outreach programs. As the only display of its kind in the Northeast, it is hoped that the rock wall will serve as a long-lasting tool to promote geoscience education in the state of Connecticut.