Page 32 - 1052-5173-27-11

GeoTeachers 2.0

Think Global, Act Local: GeoTeachers Field Workshops

GSA’s state and regional summer GeoTeachers Field Workshops We Need You!
(www.geosociety.org/geoteachers) will use several design mod-
els based on the specific objectives of the course and population For GeoTeachers to be successful, we need all GSA members
in question. One successful model is designed to attract educa- interested in education and outreach to lend us your skills. Given
tors primarily from within a 4–5-hour radius to a university our focus on local teachers, our GeoTeachers Field Workshops
campus or similar venue for a week of classroom short courses will be organized and implemented primarily by local committees
and day field trips. Teachers will reside onsite to minimize travel composed of GSA members and selected colleagues. No one per-
and build a sense of camaraderie among the participants. son has the capacity to build a week-long workshop on their own.
Individual teachers will select classroom workshops that best It may not take a village, but teamwork will be required. To be
meet their classroom needs from a variety of content and peda- successful, we will need people from the K–12 education commu-
gogical topics taught by master teachers, geoscience educators, nity, academia, government agencies, non-profit organizations,
and content experts. and industry. Skills and roles that each committee will need to
access include:
The primary focus will be on quality field trips led by experts
from academia, government agencies, and industry addressing • Earth Science Educators—Master teachers and science coordi-
the geoscience of the region and how active geologic processes in nators in K–12 schools/homeschools with practical lesson plans
the past and present create the existing landscape. The field trips and activities to share;
will also explore how society interacts with the resulting geologic
resources and hazards. Participants will investigate classic out- • Geoscience Educators—Academic faculty with experience
crops as well as tour industrial sites where mines, quarries, pro- teaching geoscience to general education audiences as well as
cessing, and reclamation activities related to meeting human pre- and in-service teachers;
needs occur.
• Field Trips—Experience designing and leading field trips to
Teachers will be allowed to collect samples and pictures for key outcrops/sites in the local geology;
classroom use, where appropriate. They will also have the oppor-
tunity to learn from working geologists regarding the diversity of • Industry Contacts—Professional geologists with expertise and/
people and skills on which the geosciences rely and who represent or facilities to share;
the career options K–12 students can consider pursuing both
locally and in the wider world. • Fund-Raising—Good contacts with local industry/foundations
with geoscience/environmental interest;
In the year following completion of the workshop, participants
will be supported in integrating content and teaching strategies • Logistics Experience—Workshops need many helping hands to
into their own classrooms with a webinar series. The series will coordinate and facilitate success; and
bring together teachers from the various workshops to continue
exploration of wider geoscientific principles across the workshop • Local Contacts—Connections with individuals in the commu-
venues and for sharing successful curricular revisions in their nity who can fill various roles.
classrooms. Follow-up sessions and field trips relevant to the
workshops in each GSA region will be organized for the GSA There is at least one item on this list that any GSA member can
Section Meetings in the spring before the next round of work- fulfill. This is a call for all hands, and rock hammers, on deck.
shops. With workshop locations moving within each state/region Please help if you can, even if only to share the names and contact
each year, teachers who attend multiple workshops can gain an information of people who can assist in this initiative. Help your
appreciation of how their local geology fits into the wider area of state be in the first-wave in hosting a GeoTeacher Field Workshop
their state and region over time. during the summer of 2018. Planning has already begun!

Please direct all ideas and inquiries by phone, email, or the
online Member Community to Dean Moosavi, Education
Programs Coordinator, smoosavi@geosciety.org, +1-303-357-1015.

Teachers receive an overview of local geology Teacher acquires sample of Jordan sandstone Teachers conclude a field trip exploring prairie
and its connection to the regional tectonic his- with glauconite layer. Photo by Dean Moosavi, on post-glacially scoured Ordovician dolomite
tory. Photo by Sadredin (Dean) Moosavi, Ely, Mankato, Minnesota, USA, June 2016. terrace of the glacial River Warren, Kasota, Min-
Minnesota, USA, 2017. nesota, USA, June 2016. Dolomite exposed on
GSA Today | November 2017 the terraces is mined for dimension stone and
32 aggregate. Photo by Dean Moosavi.