Do we have a serious problem with Earth Science in California?

A Note from Wendy Van Norden, the far west section director of NESTA...

Dear Earth Science Educator,

Is there a crisis in California Earth Science?

I received an email from a teacher about the Earth Science crisis that she was seeing in her school district. (see letter below)

That prompted me to wonder, is there a state-wide problem, and what, if anything, can we do about it? 

First, let us compile some data.  I have written a survey, could you please take it? 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N32G5KR

Please forward this survey to other Earth Science High School and Middle School  teachers in California so that we can gather as much data as possible. 

When I have compiled the results of the survey,  I will get back to you, and we will discuss how we may best address any concerns that we find. 

Wendy Van Norden

NESTA  Far West Director

Harvard-Westlake School

Studio City, CA 91604

818 487-6665

wvannorden@hw.com

Letter from an earth science teacher

I attended a training yesterday given by our school district administration. During the training, we talked about the fact that the formula used to allot funds from the state to individual school districts will be changing. One of the criteria for receiving funds will be the number of high school students in the district that are enrolled in what are called "a-g" classes. Basically, these are the classes that CA universities look at when admitting students to the system.

To put it simply, earth science is not considered an "a-g" course. Only biology, physics, and chemistry are what they consider "d" lab-science courses. We tried to get our earth science classes as a "g" requirement (elective) but the university board denied it because they insisted on an algebra prerequisite. We could try to get a "d" geology course but it wouldn't cover all the NGSS standards.

Most of the students in our earth sciences are our lower-academic kids who have not mastered algebra (they are freshmen). What our district is probably going to do is filter as many kids into biology as freshmen and put the really low kids in earth science. I foresee earth science in the future being integrated into the other sciences as districts struggle to grab as much state money as they can.

It's a dilemma since districts will not receive funds for students who earn a "D" or "F" in a subject. I have a feeling that our district will probably come up with an introductory physical science class that will integrate most of the NGSS earth science standards and try to get a "d' designation.

The California Dept. of Education has said that they would like to see integrated science classes at the high school level. They have already made middle school science integrated.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Am I wrong in my assumptions? I came out of the training feeling really depressed.

Confronting Creation Science in the Classroom

From Larry Collins, FWS member, who has excellent resources on his website concerning creation-science in the earth science classroom:

"I am retired geology faculty member of California State University Northridge (retired since 1993) and used to be quite active in the NAGT FWS, but old age has caught up with me, and I am no longer able to participate. So, I will not be at the up-coming conference in mid-March. However, I am sure that you are probably aware of the fact that science teachers in elementary and secondary schools in many parts of country, including California, are being confronted by young-earth creationists who want to put their religious beliefs into science class rooms. This is an on-going problem. If you know of any such geology science teachers who are members of the NAGT FWS who are facing this issue, I call your attention to two pdf articles that they can down-load which give geologic reasons (1) why a supposed Noah’s ark in eastern Turkey cannot be either its fossilized remnant or a supposed cast (see attached image) and (2) why a worldwide Flood cannot have happened because of the presence of thick evaporite mineral deposits of rock salt and gypsum that occur interlayered with the fossil-bearing sedimentary rocks of many different geologic ages on all continents. In the first article, magnetite derived from weathered basalt is what produces the iron signals for supposed washers, rivets, and brackets instead of pure iron metal for Noah to use to hold the walls of the Ark together. In the second article, desert drying conditions cannot occur in the midst of a worldwide flood. See: http://www.csun.edu/~vcgeo005/Sutton%20Hoo%2014.pdf and http://www.csun.edu/~vcgeo005/Collins2.pdf . I hope that you will pass this information on to possible interested teachers. I have other articles on my website on opposition to creationism that they also might find helpful. http://www.csun.edu/~vcgeo005/creation.html ."

Lorence (Larry) Collins

Registration Deadline Extended: Far Western Section Meeting

The registration deadline for the Spring 2011 NAGT conference (see previous post), to be held at Caltech in Pasadena, CA, on March 25 - 27, has been extended to March 11. The registration fee is $95 for all payment postmarked by March 11. For payment postmarked after March 11, the fee will be $125. Go to the conference web site at

http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/meetings/nagt/index.html

Students of the geological sciences are invited and encouraged to attend Far Western Section events at greatly reduced rates. See the conference website for details. Hope to see you there!

Far Western Section, National Association of Geoscience Teachers Spring Meeting: Caltech Tectonics Observatory, March 25-27, 2011

Have you ever wanted to know more about the geology of southern California, the San Andreas fault, and some of the incredibly strange rocks that crop out around the San Gabriel Mountains, like Vasquez Rocks or Devil's Punchbowl? The Far Western Section of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers invites you to join us on March 25-27, 2011 for our spring meeting, hosted by the Caltech Tectonics Observatory in Pasadena, California. These meetings are a great way to learn some fascinating geology, meet some fascinating people, and as much as I would like to say "have a scholarly time", I'm going to instead say "have a fun time".

Complete details of the meeting can be found on the Caltech Tectonics Observatory website at http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/meetings/nagt/. You do not need to be a member of NAGT to attend (but we will gladly welcome you into membership if you wish to!), and the cost of the event is modest (less than $100 if you register before Feb. 25, plus a bit more for the Saturday banquet).

Check out the wonderful slate of activities and field trips below!

Field trips:
•Erosion and Sediment Transport in steep Mountain Terrain, San Gabriel Mountains - Mike Lamb (Caltech)

•San Gabriel Anorthosite and the San Andreas Fault - Bruce Carter (Pasadena Community College)

•Vasquez Rocks - Elisabeth Nadin (UA, Fairbanks) and Rebecca Walker (Mt San Antonio College)

•Devil's Punchbowl and Red Rock Canyon - Donald Prothero (Caltech/Occidental College)

Evening Speakers:
•Good Vibrations Inside the Earth - Jennifer Jackson (Caltech)

•TBD -Jess Adkins (Caltech)

Exhibits and tours:
•Tour of Seismo Lab - Margaret Vinci (Caltech)

•Southern CA Earthquake Center (SCEC) display

Workshops:
•Low-T Thermometry and Thermochronometry and Applications (including dating the formation of the Grand Canyon) - Ken Farley, John Eiler, and Brian Wernicke (Caltech)

•Earthquake Magnitude, Energy, and Focal Mechanisms (beach balls) - Joann Stock (Caltech)

•Plate Tectonic Rotation of the Transverse Ranges: what happened, how we know it happened, and how it created Southern California’s unique geography, climate, ocean currents and biological richness - Tanya Atwater (UCSB)

•Historical Earthquakes and Uplift/Subsidence of Sumatra from Coral Growth Rings - Elizabeth Nadin (UA, Fairbanks) and Belle Philibosian (Caltech)

•Operations of Community Seismometer Network (How your laptop can help scientists better understand earthquakes) - Tom Heaton and Ming-Hei Cheng (Caltech)

The registration form is here: http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/meetings/nagt/register.pdf

No Child Left Inside! Our National Parks (from Geotripper)

First published at Geotripper...

Long complex ramble today with four seemingly unrelated random thoughts. But they are...

• Devilstower, over at Dailykos.com, has a great post today about Little Giants , wondering what would happen if the estimated 5,000 to 7,000 tigers in the United States were all released at once.


• I had a great meeting with 60 fifth-graders in my lab this week, introducing them to the world of the geologist.


• I led a field studies class last week to the Cascades, studying the role of volcanism in three different national parks and monuments: Lassen Volcanic, Crater Lake and Lava Beds.


• Ken Burns and PBS are offering a six part documentary on "America's Best Idea", the story of the National Parks of America.

America's national parks are indeed one of the greatest ideas ever conceived by a society. The choice of overrunning a landscape and stripping it of resources to the point of ruination is a story that has been repeated over and over in human history. The idea that we might actually preserve a portion of our land in some condition approaching the primeval, for the benefit of all of its citizens, was an extraordinary leap that advanced civilization. If nothing else, the parks give us a focus point to understand how much we truly have changed our lands, and how far removed from our heritage we truly are. I am eagerly awaiting the Ken Burns documentary; the bits and pieces I've seen already are encouraging. Be sure to check it out.

My journey over the last week drove home the point of just how geological our national parks are. While acknowledging the historical nature of many parks in the system, such as Civil War battlefields and the like, most people think of places like Yosemite, Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon when they think of national parks. Although many people think of the national park experience as seeing wildlife, the bears, the moose, the buffalo, the deer and chipmunks, it is the rock that makes a place like the Grand Canyon or Yosemite Valley, it is the volcanism that has built the Hawaii Volcanoes, Haleakala, Rainier, Crater Lake, and Yellowstone, it is the movement of ice that sculpted the Grand Tetons, Glacier or the North Cascades. To truly understand a national park is to have an education, a true hands-on education, in geology. And yet: as Lee Alison of Arizona Geology points out, there are only 20 geologists employed in the Geologic Resources in the national park system, compared to 800 biologists.

The power of the national parks to move us is rooted in the common experience that many Americans have had while visiting our national parks, sometimes as adults, but especially as children. How many of us have that memory of playing in a river, camping out in the dark listening for the snuffling of bears, hiking a steep trail, or even conquering our first mountain? I remember as a young child climbing to the top of some small hill in Sequoia National Park on the Heather Lake trail, and giving it a name; I also remember the terror of being lost in a campground, having tried to find my own way to the bathroom in the dark as a five-year old. Terror at the time, and yet one of my most cherished memories, along with my first face to face meeting with a bear at Seqouia.

My visit with the fifth-graders this week was a startling reminder of something I already knew. Too many, way too many kids are not getting even a chance to experience their heritage as Americans. I live less than a two hour drive from one of the crown jewels of the national park system, Yosemite National Park, and almost none of these kids have been there! There are many reasons, of course, perfectly logical reasons. Even a twenty dollar entrance fee is too much for many struggling families, not to mention the cost of gasoline (we have 17% unemployment in our county right now). There is less and less of a cultural appreciation for simple forms of recreation: electronic games are very alluring to the short-term attention span of so many of our kids. And our kids, fed on a steady diet of junk food, and lacking any kind of exercise in their schools, just aren't healthy enough to appreciate hiking a trail or running away from a bear or snake.

And yet: these kids were excited just to see images of their national heritage. And I swear their eyes lit up when they came to the realization that these experiences were out there, and they could take part in them if they chose to. They could see an erupting volcano if they chose to. They could find a dinosaur bone in the ground. They want to see and experience these places, if we found a way to get them there.

It is we as a society who are robbing the youth of our country of their heritage. Every time we cut the budgets of our schools to the bare minimum of math and English classes, we take away the most valuable part of education. English is probably important, but what use is it if these kids have nothing to write about? An education is all about experience, not just knowledge.

And what about the Devilstower blog entry on little giants? In the last twelve thousand years, our continent has lost a huge part of our ecosystem: the megafauna. The North American continent once played host to mammoths, mastodons, giant elk, bison, camels, horses, sloths, and many other huge creatures. Most of them are gone, although, as Devilstower points out, some survived much longer by evolving into smaller forms (dwarf mammoths survived on the Channel Islands off California thousands of years longer than their bigger mainland relatives). What's left? The bison and elk and grizzly bears of places like Yellowstone National Park. For now, these creatures are managed as if they were in a zoo rather than part of an ecosystem, but there is a growing recognition that if we are going to choose to have these grand animals in our care, we have to see our land not as a few isolated protected havens like Yellowstone, but as a continuous habitat extending beyond park boundaries where these large animals and humans can coexist. It is a contentious topic to be sure: look at the controversy over the de-listing of the wolf from the Endangered Species Act.

One more note on the topic: this month's Accretionary Wedge, hosted by Tuff Cookie at Magma Cum Laude, is based on the following question: What kind of Earth Science outreach have you participated in? Have you hosted a geology day at your department, given a field trip, gone to your child's/niece's/nephew's/cousin's school to do a demonstration, or sponsored an event for Earth Science Week? To this I would add: You don't sponsor outreach? What do you plan on doing to change that?

Our pictures today? An Oak Tree in Yosemite Valley, and a black bear in Sequoia National Park. Something that every child should have a chance to see.

A Survey Request from the Smithsonian

Via Julie Genyuk at NESTA

Greetings!

The Smithsonian Museum of National History's Sant Ocean Hall has been working with the design production company Funny Garbage in the development of an online resource dedicated to scientific information about the ocean. A portion of The Ocean Portal site will serve as a resource where K-12 educators can visit for assistance in developing curricula about ocean related topics.To ensure we develop a useful tool, we are recruiting educators who teach life and earth sciences to take an online survey on how they use teachers' resources on the Internet.

ONLINE SURVEY:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=QuXv0pLFikPze8IgmSx8jQ_3d_3d
We hope to reach as many teachers as possible in as many geographic locations as possible. The survey should take between 10 and 15 minutes to complete and is available now through September 4th. Feedback from your community would be the very group that we hope to serve with rich and useful resources. Please help circulate this email to educators who would be interested in using this type of resource.

Elizabeth J. Ban
COSEE/Ocean Science Education Specialist
Smithsonian Institution
BanE@si.edu

SEEKING Advice

(from a post on Geotripper)

Did you ever go to one of those summer camps where they gave you a piece of string, a straw, a stick, a rubber band, and then told you to make a can opener out of it? Or have you ever been an astronaut stranded in space who had to make a carbon dioxide scrubber out of duct tape and technical manuals? If so, I have a question for you at the end of the post.

What happens to community science knowledge in times like this where there is no money for science teaching, none for field trips, no resources? Well, in our case we (my community college science division professors) are putting together a program for local fifth graders in which they will come onto our campus for their "field trip" to see real live scientists who will be giving them demonstrations and hands-on lab experiences. We don't have grants or really any other resources, and the presenters are all volunteers. We are calling the program SEEK, for Science Encounters for Elementary Kids, and I could use some ideas.

Here's the question: you are given one standard geology lab, with the usual maps, fossils, rocks and minerals (oh, and a working seismometer), and you have 35 fifth-graders for 45 minutes. What would YOU do to open up the world of the earth sciences to these kids? I have some ideas, but I would sure like to hear from folks out in the geoblogosphere and elsewhere.

Thanks in advance!

Target targets field trip grants for K-12

"Target is accepting applications starting today for 5,000 grants of up to $800 each for the upcoming school year to run field trips at the K-12 level. This is a great opportunity for local teachers to get their students out to learn about Earth science. So pass this along to teachers you know and help them submit an application online anytime between Aug. 5 and Nov. 3, 2009."

Thanks to Arizona Geology and Geology.com for the tip

Teacher Advocate Program at GSA

From the Geological Society of America, via Geology.com:

Teacher Advocate Program (TAP)

The Geological Society of America is dedicated to increasing the appreciation of the Earth's history, processes, and resources through Earth science education. Recognizing that the future of geology rests in the hands of our nations' school teachers is the fundamental building block of the TAP program.

Developed as a means to support Earth science educators, the Teacher Advocate Program provides the following resources for teachers:

• Explore Geoscience CD-ROMs for teachers, with background materials and student activities, diagrams, images and 3-D models. Our Geoscience CDs are easy-to-use, curriculum-linked geoscience teaching resources in a variety of topics for educators across the USA and beyond, developed by educators with classroom teaching experience.
  


• Lesson plans, resource links, and materials at teachers' fingertips via our Education Web page
  


• Field experiences in geologically dynamic locations for teachers only through GSA's Teacher GeoVenture trips
  


• Workshops supplying educators with activities and resources to use in the earth science classroom
  


• GSA's Distinguished Earth Science Teacher in Residence, who develops resources, maintains the Education Web page, and assists teachers in need of ideas or geoscience career information who contact GSA.
  

Considering Support of TAP ?

If you are considering supporting the Teacher Advocate Program but would like more detailed information about our successes and goals, please download this file for additional information (pdf format). We thank you for your interest and support of this program.

Science Dies Ugly Death! Only 4 in 10 Americans Believe in Continental Drift! (wait a minute...)

(This post is stolen almost verbatim from Geotripper, but since he is me, it is ok)

Check out a poll and excellent discussion by Devilstower in which Research 2000 asked about plate tectonics (for DailyKos). Worded like similar polls by Gallup about evolution, they asked whether the respondents "believed" Africa and America were once connected ("Do you believe that America and Africa were once part of the same continent?"). If this sounds like a poorly worded question, it was, and they did it on purpose. First, look at the results:

YES NO NOT SURE

ALL 42% 26% 32%

DEM 51% 16% 33%

REP 24% 47% 29%

IND 44% 23% 33%

OTH/REF 42% 25% 33%

NON VOTERS 46% 22% 32%

WHITE 35% 30% 35%

BLACK 63% 13% 24%

LATINO 55% 19% 26%

OTHER/REF 56% 19% 25%

18-29 48% 20% 32%

30-44 40% 28% 32%

45-59 43% 24% 33%

60+ 39% 30% 31%

NORTHEAST 50% 18% 32%

SOUTH 32% 37% 31%

MIDWEST 46% 22% 32%

WEST 43% 24% 33%

Wording in a poll is everything, and for a long time major polling organizations have been asking badly designed questions about science, especially those on evolution, by wording their questions poorly, and then reporting the results with a misleading emphasis. Following the point made by Devilstower, a headline may very well read "Only 4 in 10 people believe..." but this ignores that fact that a full third of the respondents understood that they didn't have enough knowledge in the subject to give an informed answer. The real news in this poll is that only a quarter of the respondents were wrong in their perception of the science and that their ignorance was influenced by region, political affiliation and race (the interesting point in this poll result is how poorly whites did in comparison to blacks and hispanics, if you want to interpret the results literally).

Devilstower does a great job of explaining the inflammatory nature of the use of Africa in the question. Other questions in the poll were highly political ones, including an approval poll for congress and the president. It helps to explain the disparity of the findings in regards to the Southern states. Would the disparity still apply if Europe were substituted for Africa in the question?

The big problem with the poll is the use of the word "believe". People believe in deities. People hold opinions that animal testing is wrong. People believe it's wrong to torture prisoners. But does one believe in gravity? Can a person believe they don't need oxygen to live? They can choose not to believe these things, but it doesn't change the fundamental fact that they will fall if they jump off a cliff, or suffocate if they try breathing water. In the most proper sense scientists don't deal with beliefs. They deal with experimentation and confirmation of physical facts. Hypotheses can't be believed in, they have to undergo testing. They will usually be confirmed or disproven, and it doesn't fall to a vote about belief, whether by the scientists themselves, or by the public at large.

This misunderstanding about being able to pick and choose what science to "believe" is at the heart of issues like human-induced global warming or evolution. I have a lot of respect for the people who responded in this poll by saying they didn't know. I just hope they take the next step and try to learn something about it. Education is everything in facing the complex problems of our society.

Get Involved: Secondary Level Earth Science Classes and the University of California

From Wendy Van Norden, director of the Far West Section of the National Earth Science Teacher Association (our sister organization for teaching the earth sciences):

"a letter writing campaign (has been) initiated by Eldridge Moores, of University of California, Davis, who has been working tirelessly to get the BOARS committee of the University of California to include the Earth Sciences as part of the UC “d” requirements for admission to UC schools. Very few of us have obtained “d” status for our high school earth science classes, and as you probably know, school administrators strongly discourage teachers from offering a science class to college prep students if it doesn’t meet the “d” requirement. We need to let the academic council of UC hear our concern about the future of earth science education in California. Without the “d” status, high school earth science courses are doomed to be the “rocks for jocks” courses if they are offered at all. Please take a look at the sample letter and talking points for ideas and send out some emails or letters. This is a critical time in the decision process and your letters can make a difference. Also, please forward this email to anyone who may be interested in helping this important cause.

Thank you so much."

Please get involved! This has been a point of frustration for earth science teachers in the region for years, and this inequality needs to change. Here are the main contacts and talking points for your letters:

PEOPLE TO CONTACT

Academic Council:

Chair: Professor Mary Croughan, 1111 Franklin St., 12th Fl., University of California, Oakland CA 95607-5200. Email

Vice Chair: Professor Henry C. Powell, 1111 Franklin St., 12th Fl., University of California, Oakland CA 95607-5200. Email

Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS)

Chair: Professor Sylvia Hurtado, Department of Education, 3005 Moore Hall, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1521. Email

Vice Chair: Professor William Jacob, Department of Mathematics, South Hall 6607, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106. Email

SUGGESTED "WRITING" POINTS (in no particular order):

· We teachers are concerned, because we want to be able to prepare our students for the environmental challenges that they will face in this century.
· We high school teachers think that teaching of Earth, Environmental, and Space Sciences (EESS) is very important. We need you to take the step of specifying EESS in the "d" Laboratory Science requirement.
· The National Research Council National Standards were published in 1996, specifying Earth and Space Sciences as one of the three fields to be covered in K-12 education, particularly in 9-12 education.
· We are astonished that the UC System has not modified its "d" laboratory science requirement before now in order to conform to the national standards.
· Education in the EESS is essential for all citizens in a democracy, in order for them to be knowledgeable citizens in this century, in which the issues of climate change, water, and energy will be paramount. All these issues deeply involve the Earth Sciences.
· There are excellent course preparation materials of college-prep level in this area (give examples).
· These curricula use accessible subject matter that allows students to learn basic concepts upon which they may build difficult ideas, and to develop analytic and synthetic integrative thinking.
· Specific UC requirements determine in large part high school curricula. Thus in order for high schools to be able to justify offering these courses, they need to by specified in UC's "d" requirement.
· There are national and state examinations in EESS (e.g. California STAR exams).
· Thus we request that the UC system modernize its "d" laboratory science requirement to include the words "Earth, environmental, and space sciences".

A sample letter follows:

Dear ( )

I write as a professional geologist (or other discipline) concerned about the coverage of Earth, Environmental, and Space Sciences (EESS) in California high school curricula. I believe that the University of California needs to recognize the Earth Sciences as an important part of the education of students entering the colleges and universities of the state. As the National Earth Science Literacy Initiative states,

From the perspective of future civilizations, the 21st century will be defined by three things: climate change, water availability, and energy resources. The fate of humanity will rest on how these three—all deeply rooted in the Earth Sciences--are handled in the next century.

If we are to prepare our high school students for challenges of this century, we need to encourage our California high schools to offer classes in the Earth Sciences.

1. Currently, the California State Board of Education standards for high school science education includes the Earth Sciences, and Earth Science knowledge is tested on Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test on Earth Science,
   
2. However, the University of California does not include the subject for fulfillment of the “d” requirement for university admission. Students, have to petition the University for permission to use EESS classes to meet the “d” requirement.
   
3. In the 2004 school year, only 13% of California Grade 9 students took Earth Science (American Geological Institute). Only 20% of recent UC applicants, admits, and enrollees, received "d" credit for EESS, in contrast to 96% for biology, 93% chemistry, and 60% physics (BOARS; Minutes of March 6, 2009).
   
4. There are excellent curricula available for EESS classes that meet the general UC requirements for laboratory sciences. The curricula use accessible subject matter that provide tangible problems appropriate for teaching the scientific method and evidence-based reasoning, and develops analytic and synthetic integrative thinking in students.

Therefore, we need the Academic Senate to change the UC "d" requirement to add the words "Earth, Environmental, and Space Sciences" to the list of specified courses (biology, chemistry, and physics) that would satisfy the requirement. In this way, UC will signal to high schools that they value these courses, and thus encourage the institution of high quality Earth, Environmental, and Space Sciences.

I understand that the UC Academic Council is preparing a document on this issue for circulation to the various Campus Divisions for comment. I urge you to contact your Campus Academic Senate representatives when this issue comes before the Campus committees and to support the needed change in the wording of the "d" requirement.

Respectfully,

Smithsonian Science Education Academy Opportunity

From Ian MacGregor, former executive director of the NAGT:

Smithsonian Science Education Academies for Teachers:
Earth's History & Global Change

National Science Resources Center/Smithsonian Institution July 26-31, 2009, Washington, D.C

As part of its annual program of teacher events, the National Science Resources Center (NSRC) is conducting a week-long academy for teachers (of grades 6-12) on Earth's History and Global Change. The academy utilizes the unique resources of the Smithsonian Institution's museums, as well as scientists from organizations, and laboratories around Washington, DC to explore concepts and content relating to the formation of our planet, and the evidence for planetary change through natural processes and human intervention. Sessions will include behind-the-scenes access to museum collections, special museum floor visits, interactions with scientists in research laboratories, hands-on inquiry-based sessions, and more. Topics investigated include planet formation, volcanism and plate tectonics, geological evidence for different paleoenvironments and recent changes in our oceans and atmosphere.

The course is residential. Course fees include hotel accommodation near the National Mall, some meals, and transport to session venues. 3 graduate credits, (for an additional fee of $300) are available from the Virginia Commonwealth University. For additional information on the course fees and nature of this course, and others like it, visit http://www.nsrconline.org/professional_development/SSEAT_overview.html or contact Juliet Crowell at the NSRC by email at crowellj@si.edu or phone at 202-633-2968.

Register Online Now!

National Science Resources Center
901 D Street, SW
Washington, District of Columbia 20024
202-633-2973

Symposium: The Importance of K-12 Geology Education to the Future of the Planet

Courtesy of Wendy Van Norden, the new director of the Far West Section of the National Earth Science Teachers Association:

Educational Symposium:
The Importance of K-12 Geology Education to the Future of the Planet

Panel Conveners: Bob Ballog and Tanya Atwater
Wednesday Morning • May 6th • 0800-1200

With the increasing importance of climate change, water conservation, increasing awareness of potential natural disasters, and the increasing environmental consciousness we are seeing, it is imperative that we train more earth scientists to be able to confront and address these problems. Current estimates show that the number of graduating geoscientists is falling not rising.

Currently, in the state of California, the earth sciences are being relegated to secondary status in the science curriculum. In many districts earth science is not taught as a college prep course. The PSAAPG is concerned about this trend and this panel is assembled to bring our views to the forefront and discuss alternatives with state educators. We hope to have representatives from the State Board of Education, Ventura County Office of Education, university professors, K-12 teachers, and professional geoscientists gathered to brainstorm ideas and approaches to solving this problem.

All interested earth scientists, teachers, and administrators are invited to attend and participate in this session. Pass this along to colleagues who are not PSAAPG members and urge them to attend.

Panel Convener: Bob Ballog, Geologist, Eagle Exploration and Production Company, Inc.
Panel Convener: Tanya Atwater, Geology Professor Emeritus, UC Santa Barbara
Panel Member: Don Clarke, Consultant, Pacific Section AAPG President
Panel Member: Gerry Simila, Geology Professor, California State University, Northridge
Panel Member: Karen Blake, Geologist, Hobby Energy
Panel Member: Rick Woodson, Coordinator, Taft Oil-Technology Academy
Panel Member: John Parrish, State Geologist, California
Panel Member: Eldridge Moores, Professor Emeritus, UC Davis
Funding is available to attend the event.

Sponsored by Pacific Section AAPG
Pacific Sections AAPG-SEPM-SEG Convention
May 2 - 6, 2009 - Ventura, California

Please contact Bob Ballog for more information at bobballog@aol.com