MAKING GEOLOGY ENGAGING: INTEGRATING A SAND VOLCANO MODEL INTO THE NEW ZEALAND EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCES CURRICULUM

Models – physical, mental, or computer-based – working as analogies of relevant processes are found to be better for learning, offering more comprehensive explanations than their lecture-based counterparts. This study developed a framework for a physical sand model demonstrating the relationship between volcanism, erosion, and time with the analogue of Banks Peninsula geologic history and formatted the earth science unit around this model.This work highlights the feasibility of models' use in a classroom in a timely and cost-effective manner, while incorporating the effective learning tools of enquiry and investigation, and development of a model framework to be workable for any location’s geological history. The model framework was tested using the example of Banks Peninsula, New Zealand, with a small sample size of students at secondary and tertiary levels of schooling geographically close to the area of study. As we ran the model with various school groups, qualitative data was gathered regarding its efficacy and subsequently revised the framework. Due to time constraints, the model and relevant curriculum structure was specialized for secondary school classrooms only. The accompanying curriculum structure is an 8-week unit framework designed to meet the New Zealand National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) requirements and to incorporate investigation, enquiry, and hands-on learning. This study shows that a model demonstrating complex geological histories can fit into the teaching curriculum, and enables learning and teaching methods that are more effective than lecture, driven through investigation-based learning.