AN UNFURGETTABLE METHOD OF TEACHING EARTH MATERIALS BY CATOLOGY: A FURWARD THINKING APPROACH TO STUDENT SUCCESS

From the student pawspective, mineralogy and petrology, particularly as a combined one semester Earth materials course in a liberal arts environment can be a clawful experience. Students have mewonimal prior experience, many only having an AP environmental science background and zero college level chemistry knowledge, often resulting in purrplexment. However, they are meowtivated to learn and have the right cattitude to succeed, they just need a tailored solution.

All kitten aside, meowterials were adapted to help students with claw concepts such as crystallography, mineral chemistry, phase diagrams, melt crystallisation etc, which will be shared in this presentation. For example, cats are clearly purrfectly suited to teaching solid solution through cat-ion exchange, with the ‘if I fits, I sits’ rule. We all know that if a cat fits in an object, they will sit. The same way ions of a similar size can ‘sit’ in specific sites in crystal lattice structures. 85% of students definitely agreed this alitteration helped them understand the concepts of solid solution and chemical variation in minerals. On another paw, cats are liquids, since they take the shape of their containers, as well as being solids. Thus, cats are exceptionally tailented at addressing how igneous melts crystallise. A tortoiseshell (2-component) ‘liquid’ kitty can show crystallisation of diopside and anorthite ‘crystal’ kitties, while a calico (3-component) ‘liquid’ kitty can show crystallisation of forsterite, diopside and anorthite ‘crystal’ kitties. Students definitely agreed that melt and crystal kitties made their understanding of binary phase diagrams (93%) and ternary phase diagrams (83%) purrfectly clear.

This may be a radiclaw solution, but the course is unfurgettable, students’ grades have improved (a 20% increase on average) and they enjoy learning (96% agree). The class is now full to catacity and taken by non-Earth Science majors. Petrology, or purrhaps catology, is now a pawsitive experience, litterally!