teaching - Earth Science Teachers' Association

TEACHING EARTH SCIENCES ● Volume 31 ● Number 4, 2006
© PETE LOADER
Figure 3
A rocky ramble in
the Peak District, a
sinking feeling on
Mam Tor
Figure 5
Dinosaurs on
display at an Open
Day at Truro
School
Geology on the TV or in films
Highlight relevant TV programmes
and their presenters,
such as ‘Earth Story’ (Aubrey
Manning), ‘Journeys from the
Centre of the Earth’ (Iain Stewart),
‘Planet Earth’ (David Attenborough),
‘The British Isles: A Natural
History’ (Alan Titchmarsh)
and ‘Coast’. The new series on the
BBC ‘Climate Chaos’ should also
be advertised.
Programmes like these all help to
promote the wider nature of the
subject and demonstrate to pupils
that the subject is real and features
widely in their everyday lives. Focus on how geology
overlaps with other sciences and geography, which
makes the subject more appealing, especially to pupils
who already enjoy these disciplines and would like to
continue with them to a higher level, but with a new
added dimension. Likewise, for pupils who want to try
something new at A level, the subject can have an
immediate attraction. The fact that geology is a practical
and interactive subject has great appeal to the modern-day
pupil and is definitely worth pressing home.
Meanwhile, Ros from ‘Friends’ can be used to get
away from the typical image of a geologist!
Geology in Hollywood can also be used to promote
the subject, e.g. ‘Krakatoa – the last days’ whilst ‘Dante’s
Peak’ (despite it’s inaccuracies) could also be debated.
Use video conferencing to have an intensive lab
session across a group of schools.
Through video conferencing, geology teaching can be
shared amongst teachers with specialist knowledge in
certain areas. This can assist with difficult areas of the
specification, especially for new geology teachers, and
would allow for the sharing of knowledge and experience.
Links could be set up between the school and
industries willing to give an insight into their practices.
This saves time in visiting places that may not be
within easy reach, whilst some industries may be
abroad or inaccessible, for example, a geologist working
on an oil rig.
Video conferencing may also assist with fieldwork in
a similar way, to supplement that carried out by the students
themselves. A school may link up with a school in
another country, for example, in Arizona, USA, comparing
the geological landscapes of the two areas.
Video conferencing has many other possibilities, for
example, ‘Ask a Geologist’, whereby students can ask
questions/chat to geologists around the world. Links
could also be made with universities and their specialist
lectures/professors.
Other IT-related possibilities include ‘virtual tours’.
These can be taken around a variety of places, including
mines, quarries, other fieldwork sites and museums.
And some extra ideas from Ian Kenyon – wacky
or not?
Re-name the Geology rooms – at Truro School, we
have The James Hutton Room (formerly Room 8) and
The Mary Anning Room (formerly Room 7). Each
room has an aluminium plaque with the name on –
supplied by the CDT dept. at just a cost of £5 each. It
has raised the profile of Geology and really annoyed the
Science department for some reason!
Figure 4
Name-a-room at Truro School
Display-wise, collect weird and interesting photos
from magazines/internet – then add mad geological
related captions e.g. Naked surfer doing a headstand on
a surfboard – ‘Geology Staff can’t resist showing off
when out on fieldwork!’ Firefighters tackling forest
fires with beaters – ‘The annual graptolite cull began in
Penryn last week’ etc.
Put mad signs on or around the geology room door,
e.g. directly above the bottom of the door ‘Benthonic
Access Only’, above the door ‘Sorry No Giraffes’, and
others like ‘Geology Rocks’, ‘Geologists Do It on the
Rocks’ etc.
Open Day – give away pet rocks with a sheet of
instructions on how to look after them. Make dot to dot
dinosaur pictures available. Offer origami things like
build a volcano, trilobite etc. Borrow materials from
GeoEd to enhance Open Day – I borrowed £4,000
worth of dinosaur stuff last October (free of charge)
and it made a huge impact.
Write up fieldtrips for the School/College magazine
– send photos to the press officer that might end up in
© IAN KENYON
© IAN KENYON
www.esta-uk.org
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