Geological Society of America

T181 Time to Explore: Actively Engaging with Rigorous Three-Dimensional Learning Materials

Tuesday, 24 September 2019
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Special Presentation Area Hall A, North Building

ENCOUNTERING THE ROCK CYCLE IN A PROBLEM-BASED MIDDLE SCHOOL CURRICULUM

Paper number: T181-9
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 11:00 AM – 11:15 AM

Authors

Luke Bowman Presenting Author
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
Stephanie Tubman
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
Jacqueline E. Huntoon
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
Gregg J.S. Bluth
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
Anthony Matthys
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
Monica Wyrwicz
Rochester Community Schools, Rochester, MI
Christine Geerer
Grosse Pointe Public Schools, Grosse Pointe, MI

Abstract

Explore an innovative way for students to uncover the Rock Cycle through hands-on investigations and models from the Michigan Science Teaching and Assessment Reform (Mi-STAR) curriculum for grades 6-8. Each unit in the curriculum is anchored by a Unit Challenge that motivates students to engage with science ideas in order to solve a problem. Ideas about the rock cycle are developed over two units in the curriculum. In the first unit, students must help VolcaKNOW -- a hypothetical, struggling volcano tourism company. In the second unit, students must defend their peers against city council groups that suspect middle school students of unauthorized sand mining at Great Lakes coasts. In both units, students uncover evidence through investigations in order to build models that explain the flow of energy and the cycling of matter through Earth’s crust and on Earth’s surface. This presentation will provide a sample of the three-dimensional investigations that students experience in these units and the application of those investigations to solve a problem.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 51, No. 5

doi: 10.1130/abs/2019AM-340832

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