HR: 0800h
AN: ED31A-0736    [Abstracts]
TI: The Geoscape Poster: Maximum Impact in Geoscience Education With Minimal Funding
AU: * Aubele, J C
EM: jaubele@nmmnh.state.nm.us
AF: NM Museum of Natural History and Science, 1801 Mountain Rd. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104 United States
AU: Newsom, J
EM: newsom@aps.edu
AF: Wilson Middle School, 1138 Cardenas Dr. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108 United States
AU: Crumpler, L S
EM: lcrumpler@nmmnh.state.nm.us
AF: NM Museum of Natural History and Science, 1801 Mountain Rd. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104 United States
AB: A geologist/educator and a research curator of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and a geologist/middle school teacher from the Albuquerque Public Schools have created an educational poster that uses the landscape around Albuquerque in order to teach fundamental geoscience concepts. "Albuquerque's Geoscape" is based on the innovative "Geoscape Vancouver" produced by the Geological Survey of Canada. The Albuquerque poster required four years of development including the creation of unique graphics and text, evaluations, and reviews by geologists and classroom educators. The poster content is aligned with state and national science standards at the middle school level and can be modified by teachers from K-12. All information that a teacher might need in order to teach a thematic unit on major geological topics is included in the poster, and linked to the local landscape. An accompanying web site for teachers includes additional materials. The initial funding for the project was an Intel Innovations in Teaching Grant, in the amount of 3K, awarded to Newsom. Museum in-house resources in science, education and graphics were utilized in the poster design and development. Funding for printing required small contributions from many local and regional organizations supporting science education. These contributors included Sandia National Lab, Rocky Mountain Section AAPG Foundation, New Mexico Academy of Science, ExxonMobile Volunteer Involvement Grant, Federal Bureau of Land Management, Albuquerque Rotary Club and Albuquerque Geological Society. Printing at-cost through a local company produced a poster on high quality paper at low cost. An initial printing of 5000 copies has enabled the Museum to offer the poster free of charge to all greater Albuquerque area K-12 teachers. In addition, the poster is on sale to the general public at the museum store. The response by classroom educators, local geologists, and the general public has been enthusiastic. The Rocky Mountain Section AAPG Foundation Board recently voted to use the poster as a model and encourage creation of other similar posters.
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 0815 Informal education
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting