TRANSFORMING GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION WITH INTERACTIVE MODELS FOR EXPLORING PLATE TECTONICS

The National Science Foundation funded project, Geological models for Explorations Of Dynamic Earth (GEODE) project, focuses on creating data visualizations and simulations designed to support secondary students in investigating the phenomena associated with plate tectonics and to develop system-level understandings of the dynamic earth. The GEODE curriculum is designed to have students develop their own explanations from evidence, investigate phenomena through data representations, and hypotheses testing with a simulation. GEODE curriculum is built around a data visualization tool, the Seismic Explorer, and an interactive plate tectonics computer-based model, the Tectonic Explorer. Seismic Explorer allows students to visualize both up to the minute seismic data, data about rates of plate motion, and historic data about volcanic eruptions. Students then take the hypotheses they have developed and use Tectonic Explorer to examine dynamic plate interactions and how these interactions are responsible for volcanoes and mountains, mid-ocean ridges and trenches. Students set up scenarios in the model and observe the emergent phenomena. They choose the number of plates for their planet, draw continents on some or all of the plates, set vectors of motion for each plate, and finally set the relative densities of the oceanic crust on each plate. Then they run their simulation. We will demonstrate these tools and the interactive teacher support we include in this online delivery that help all support the transformation of plate tectonic education.