"IT TURNS INTO SOMETHING I ALREADY KNOW..."

Social relevance to geoscience concepts has emerged as a practical way to interest young scholars in geoscience academic pathways. The purpose of this study was to explore whether a geoscience education module (GEM) designed with principles of place-based education (PBE) and an Indigenous Research Framework (IRF) as the guiding theoretical perspective could successfully bridge the existing cultural knowledge of the Acoma Pueblo people with their understanding of Western geoscience. Participants from the Acoma Pueblo community were involved in activities examining local rock types, stratigraphic diagrams of local geologic features, conversations about the different earth materials found in various depositional environments, and a final discussion reflecting on the GEM. The final discussion was qualitatively analyzed and emergent themes were identified and defined through iterative analysis by multiple coders. The transcript was coded individually and interrater reliability was calculated as 25%. Discrepancies in coding were reconciled through discussions between the coders with a final interrater agreement of 99%. The emergent themes identified were connection, traditional knowledge, natural resources, and Western geoscience. Each of these major themes had several subthemes which highlighted their personal, cultural experiences as an Acoma Pueblo community member in relation to the geoscience concepts presented during the GEM. In conclusion, the GEM was successful in relating local, geoscientific knowledge with Acoma Indigenous knowledge using PBE. This project shows the potential positive results of specialized education that can lead to a more practical understanding of the application and social relevance of scientific concepts while being respectful of different cultures.