HR: 09:45h
AN: ED51C-08    [Abstracts]
TI: Creating Classroom Activities About Ocean Drilling Geophysics Through Scientist-Teacher Collaboration
AU: Passow, M J
EM: michael@earth2class.org
AF: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Dwight Morrow High School, 61 Rt 9W, Palisades, NY 10964,
AU: * Guerin, G
EM: guerin@ldeo.columbia.edu
AF: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, 61 Rt. 9W, Palisades, NY 10964,
AB: How can examples of geophysical data used in research be effectively taught to middle and high school students with only general science knowledge? Logging data, or logs, are continuous measurements of physical properties made in situ and at high resolution by lowering instruments into boreholes after completion of coring. As part of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) "School of Rock 2007" (http://www.joilearning.org/schoolofrock2007), we created a classroom activity to introduce pre-college students to representative logging data collected by the R/V JOIDES Resolution during expeditions of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). The synergistic model for curriculum development involving a research scientist (Guerin) and classroom teacher (Passow) provides an efficient strategy to disseminate technical research methods and results more widely with students and teachers. The "School of Rock 2007" brought 18 educators and 12 scientists together at the Texas A and M IODP Gulf Coast Observatory for a week in July to learn about techniques in sea floor exploration and advances in understanding the Earth's climate using geophysics, biostratigraphy, geomagnetics, and more. Teachers and researchers then collaborated to produce classroom activities that will add to the existing collection of educational resources available through JOI Learning (http://www.joiscience.org/learning). The activity we developed introduces students to general concepts of downhole logging, then presents sample data from three sites. Using guiding information provided, students engage in simplified interpretation of the data to identify such features as sedimentary layers, igneous rocks, or gas hydrate-bearing formations. Activities include questions about geography, identifying patterns within the data, recognizing distinctive features in gamma ray, resistivity, density and porosity logs. The curriculum materials will be tested with students and teachers in various setting during Fall 2007, including as part of the Earth2Class Workshops for Teachers (http://www.earth2class.org) and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House (http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu.)
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 8158 Plate motions: present and recent (3040)
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting