The Wyoming State Geological Survey (WSGS) is once again offering complimentary toolkits to junior high science classrooms across Wyoming in celebration of Earth Science Week Oct. 14–20.
The 50 toolkits are provided by the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) and are available to school teachers on a first come, first serve basis. The 2018 Earth Science Week theme is “Earth as Inspiration,” which AGI says emphasizes artistic expressions as a unique, powerful opportunity for geoscience education and understanding in the 21st century.
AGI has organized Earth Science Week every year in October since 1998, and in 2012, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead proclaimed the second week in October as Wyoming Earth Science Week. The WSGS facilitates the celebration in Wyoming by offering several resources to science teachers to be used in the classroom.
“Most kids have a natural interest and enthusiasm for earth science topics,” says WSGS Director, Dr. Erin Campbell. “These Earth Science Week toolkits are a great resource for teachers to keep that interest alive.”
Each toolkit contains material to help prepare for Earth Science Week and teach earth sciences throughout the year.
Toolkits include:
- 12-month school-year activity calendar, suitable for hanging
- New Earth Science Week poster, including a learning activity
- NASA materials on school resources and planetary exploration
- National Park Service posters on caves, plants, and geology
- Geologic Map Day poster dealing with artistic inspiration
- Mineral Education Coalition “Quarry to Crop” postcard
- IRIS material on seismology and earthquakes
- AmericaView poster on exploring America through LandSat
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute poster on global change
- UNAVCO materials on Geodesy and websites to explore
- Fact sheet from Critical Zones Observatories
- Switch Energy Project information on energy science
- Bureau of Land Management dinosaur coloring page
- Material on Constructing the Rock Cycle from Geological Society of America
- Water Footprint Calculator information on water science
- EarthScope material on what it means to be an earth scientist
- CLEAN, AMS, TERC, and GPS information and more
To request a toolkit, contact Christina George at [email protected] or (307) 766-2286 ext. 231.
Information about Earth Science Week, including links to activities and learning resources, can be found on the WSGS education webpage and on the AGI website.
To kick off Earth Science Week, the WSGS and University of Wyoming Geological Museum are cohosting an event, Wyoming ROCKS! The Art of our Geology, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, at the museum. The event is free and open to the public. More details about the event to come.