HR: 1340h
AN: ED53A-0329    [Abstracts]
TI: Sandbox Tectonics As A Teaching Tool
AU: * DeLaughter, J
EM: jdelaughter@earthscope.org
AF: EarthScope, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 United States
AB: Students are typically introduced to the relative motions of plates and its effects either through text-based descriptions, paper models, or both. However, though students may learn to repeat the description of the effects, many students still do not show a deeper understanding of the process, as shown by examinations of students before and after an introductory geology course (DeLaughter et al, 1998). This is because students are rarely affected by the information on a visceral level; because their preconceptions are never challenged, they never internalize the information as part of their model of how the world works. However, when concepts such as plate motions and their effects are presented to students as part of a tangible, physical experiment, the ideas can have a much greater impact (Carey et al, 1989). The students use the new information to build more complete mental models while learning that such models can and must change in response to new information (Herbert, 2003). When such experiments are performed in a geology class, they afford the students a direct and visceral experience that may enhance the learning process. In this exercise for middle school students, the effects of relative plate motions on overlying sediments are modeled through a simple and inexpensive set of experiments using sand and newspaper. These experiments provide qualitatively the same results as those performed by geologists researching various aspects of faulting and folding (e.g., Horsfield, 1977, Domingez et al., 2000). A secondary benefit of these experiments is that when the students do not pull the papers perfectly the combination of effects can mimic real terrains (e.g., transpressional) very closely. This intrusion of methodological errors can also lead to a lively discussion of how science is done and what the results of an experiment imply, thereby providing a pedagogical benefit as well. Thus students can be shown the effects of relative plate motions in a direct and obvious manner. Because the experiments produce tangible results, the students experience them on a more visceral level and may be able to incorporate the concepts better than they would through a description or computer simulation of the effects (Klosko et al., 2000). And, as the equipment used is very inexpensive, the experiment is well within the means of almost any school system. References Carey, S., R. Evans, M. Honda, E. Jay, C. Unger, 1989, ``An experiment is when you try it and see if it works'': A study of grade 7 students' understanding of the construction of knowledge, International Journal of Science Education, 11, 514-529 DeLaughter, J., S. Stein, C. Stein, K. R. Bain, 1998, Preconceptions abound among students in an introductory earth science course, EOS, 79, 429+432 Dominguez, S, J. Malavieille, S. Lallemand, 2000, Deformation of accretionary wedges in response to seamount subduction: Insights from sandbox experiments, Tectonics, 19(1), 182-196 Herbert, B., 2003, The role of scaffolding student metacognition in developing mental models of complex, Earth and environmental systems. DFG-NSF International Workshops on Research and Development in Mathematics and Science Education, November 19-21, 2003, Washington D.C. http://geoexplorer.tamu.edu/dfgnsf/WG1.html Horsfield, W.T., 1977, An experimental approach to basement controlled faulting, Geologie en Mijnbouw, 56, 363-370 Klosko, E., J. DeLaughter, S. Stein, 2000, Technology in introductory geophysics: the high - low mix, Computers & Geosciences, 26(6), 693-698
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
DE: 1794 Instruments and techniques
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005