A MODEL FOR LEVERAGING GEOLOGY FIELD INSTRUCTION TO ENGAGE K12 STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IN PENNSYLVANIA, GEOSLIPSTREAM

What can geoscience programs do to ensure community resilience in the face of our changing environment at a time when we have proportionately low numbers of geoscience-trained pre-college teachers? Faculty members from across the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) have taken a 3-pronged approach to these challenges. First, we have built a geology field course that can be taken by geoscience majors from any PASSHE campus, lowering barriers to participation and offering field experience where opportunities currently don’t exist. Second, we have partnered with professional geologists that are keen to showcase their work and the critical role it plays for the future of communities across PA. The connections between undergraduates and practicing geologists promote networking, and future opportunities, e.g., internships and jobs. Third, we have designed outreach programs that enable students and faculty to engage with K12 students and teachers during the field class. This last component is our Geoscience Service Learning in PA – STEM Readiness for All Municipalities (GeoSLIPSTREAM) initiative which aims to build a learning ecosystem.

Here we share results of two distinct endeavors of GeoSLIPSTREAM: 1) our outreach at a passive acid mine drainage (AMD) facility near Pittsburgh, and 2) a teacher shadowing program piloted in 2023 near Shippensburg. Participant surveys of teachers and students from the AMD events rated working with professionals and with college students highly, and feedback to open-ended questions suggests the latter was particularly powerful. Survey responses from teachers show encouraging levels of engagement and a keen interest in continued participation. The teacher shadowing project was also a success. Teachers from both middle and high school science programs representing two school districts participated in multi-day field geology engagement. They learned about resource extraction at quarries, how geology impacted indigenous peoples at geoarchaeological sites, and subsurface imaging using geophysical tools in karst terrains. Some teachers also collected samples in preparation for the new Science Technology Engineering Environmental Literacy and Sustainability (STEELS) curriculum that focuses on Earth, environmental and sustainability sciences.