Deep Earth Explorers: High school teaching resources to promote understanding of and diversity within Geosciences

Abstract:

The geosciences suffer from significant access issues contributed to by 1) lack of thorough education in the subject below University level, 2) misconceptions of the field relating all geosciences to rocks, fossil fuel exploration or dinosaurs and 3) a lack of diversity and consequently role-models within the subject. The first two of these issues likely contribute to the third. In the UK high school system geoscience content is partitioned between physics, chemistry, biology and geography, and is not viewed as an individual option by many. Teachers of these subjects, who have rarely been trained in the geosciences themselves, may not be best-placed to provide insight into geosciences.

For these reasons, we have worked with teachers and researchers to produce geoscience lesson plans and resource packs freely available to teachers of 11-16 year old students. The aim is to promote the consideration of geoscience as a career path, broaden the horizons of students and provide teachers with teacher-approved, up-to-date resources that fit into the UK 11-16 syllabus. These include: a workshop on Earth structure for ages 11-14, a series of seismology-themed science lessons for 14-16s and a series of planet-themed maths lessons for 14-16s. Resource packs tie together or teach anew science and maths content relevant to students’ syllabuses, with dynamic, game-based or project-based learning approaches. The material highlights applied examples of concepts within a geoscience context, with emphasis placed on highlighting the range of skills, job-roles and people within geosciences.

We hope that in the short-term the impact of these resources will be to improve understanding and consideration of geoscience as a career choice and in the long-term to help contribute to wider diversity within field.