Middle School Class Institute

A four week long workshop to assist Georgia middle school teachers with implementation of new curriculum standards in earth science. The class consisted of morning discussions by Dr. E. Ingall on a wide variety of earth science topics followed by discussions by Margaret Tarver covering the details of standard implementation and effective teaching tips. In the afternoon, laboratory exercises prepared by M. Grantham reinforced the topics covered in morning discussions. In addition, to the classroom and laboratory activities several all-day field trips were taken to expose the teachers to local earth science teaching resources and to generally widen their appreciation for earth science. Additionally, these trips provided opportunities for teachers to collect rock and fossil specimens to use as classroom materials. A key goal of the class was to provide the teachers with a wide array of teaching materials to take back to their schools. In addition to the materials collected on the field trips, teachers assembled large collections of minerals, rocks and fossils in the lab. Teachers were also given copies of topographic mapping software, books and equipment useful for teaching earth science. During the last two days of class the teachers presented complete lesson plans covering different elements of an earth science teaching standard. These lesson plans and associated materials were assembled for the teachers and should allow them to hit the ground running with their earth science classes.