teaching - Earth Science Teachers' Association

TEACHING EARTH SCIENCES ● Volume 26 ● Number 3, 2001
Reviews
This Dynamic Earth: the story of plate tectonics, by W J Kious and R I Tilling,
USGS, Landscape format 27 x 21.5cm, 80pp, Obtainable from ESTA
Promotions, price £7, post free. ISBN 0 16 048220 8.
and
This Dynamic Planet - world map of volcanoes, earthquakes, impact craters
and plate tectonics, USGS. Landscape format wall map, 140 x 104cm, also
from ESTA price £6 post free.
This is an unsolicited review,
written because I think the
materials are so good that
everyone ought to have them!
ESTA also needs to declare an
interest in that the items are
stocked by ESTA Promotions.
The map has been available
through ESTA for several years,
and a much-used one still features
on a display board in my old lab (I
pop in now and then, just to
check!). It shows all that the title
says, and is excellent for patternseeking
exercises, as well as for
stimulating students’ interests in
general. The topography of the
ocean floors is shown faintly, but
used in conjunction with the
colourful map of the oceans floors
by Marie Tharp (which also
happens to be available from
ESTA), one has all one needs for
doing justice to plate tectonics and
a lot more besides.
I first became aware of the
booklet, This Dynamic Earth,
whilst enduring the heat of
Australia at the International
GeoScience Education Conference
last year, it having been brought as a
free gift by the US delegation. It is
quite excellent, giving the story of
plate tectonics in clear English, with
well chosen photographs, and with
simple, bold diagrams. It also
includes some of the human stories,
such as how Wegener died in
Greenland in 1930 and how Harry
Hess managed to combine hunting
enemy submarines during the War,
with thinking about the geology of
the ocean floors. It is not over
(overly?!) American, and Vine and
Matthews’ work is explained very
clearly, among others.
So far, I have only been made
aware of one error, and that is a
simple transposition of a caption
on page 18, spotted by a historian!
Since my discovery of the
booklet, ESTA has ordered copies
from the USGS and the Earth
Science Education team has
added the items to the kit of
“samples” taken round to INSET
courses. Both the booklet and the
map have proved extremely
popular among Science teachers,
who see them as a way of
enlivening their own knowledge
of the subject and of capturing
their students’ interest. I find that
I am selling either one or the
other, and quite often both, at
most of the meetings in recent
months, and we have had to
reorder twice already.
If I made any personal money
out of promoting something like
this, I could rightly be castigated
(I did look it up!). However, the
only people to benefit will be
YOU; your students and
colleagues; ESTA (not by much!);
and, of course the USGS and their
carriers! Excellent value for money
- buy one of each for Christmas!
Peter Kennett
Sheffield
ESTA Diary
JANUARY 2002
Thurs 3 - Sat 5 January
Liverpool University.
Association for Science
Education Annual Meeting.
Thurs 3rd Jan. is Earth Sciences
Day: Public lectures and INSET
courses/workshops for Primary
and Secondary teachers.
UKOOA & ESTA.
ESTA will have a staffed
display/sales stand throughout
the Meeting.
MARCH 2002
March 1 - 3
Scotland Annual ASE
Conference,
Jordanhill School, Glasgow
March 8 - 17
National Science Week
APRIL 2002
Wed 3 - Fri 5 April
UMIST (Manchester).
Geographical Association
Conference.
ESTA will have a staffed
display/sales stand throughout
the Conference.
SEPTEMBER 2002
Fri 13 - Sun 15 September
British Geological Survey,
Keyworth, Notts
ESTA Annual Course and
Conference.
Friday 13th INSET courses
Primary, KS3, KS4, A/AS level
Geology, Higher Ed.
www.esta-uk.org
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