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Teaching activity
Implementing a constructivist teaching model for conceptualizing geologic time
Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America, Vol.37(7), p.153
Geological Society of America (GSA)
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 10/16/2005–10/19/2005)
10/2005
Abstract
Following a four-phase constructivist-learning model, middle school students are guided through sequencing the major events of Earth's history and constructing meaning from the geologic time scale. The first phase invites students to learn how Earth's history is measured by asking them to list "big events" that have occurred on Earth during the last 4.6 billion years. Student understanding of what constitutes a big event, ability to identify major geological events, and accuracy of when the events occurred, in general, varies greatly and is addressed through informal discussion. During a short class discussion, students are asked to place their events on a time scale drawn on the board. The invitation phase helps the teacher to identify student preconceptions about geologic time. During the second phase, students are given a set of informational clues and a blank geologic time scale chart. The goal of the exploration is for students to work in cooperative groups to investigate what geologists consider to be "big events" and fit them into a historical timeline. The third phase of the model, explanation, asks students to share and discuss their findings and modify their geologic time scales. Through a series of questions, students are then asked to utilize the geologic time scale as a reference. Taking action is the final phase and can be completed either in class or at home. Students are given a story that includes two possible theories attempting to explain the extinction at the end of the Permian period. After reading the story, students are asked to utilize their geologic time scale to provide evidence of another possible extinction at another time period. This lesson fosters the development of additional questions that can guide student learning throughout a geological unit of instruction.
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Details
- Title
- Implementing a constructivist teaching model for conceptualizing geologic time
- Publication Details
- Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America, Vol.37(7), p.153
- Resource Type
- Teaching activity
- Conference
- Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 10/16/2005–10/19/2005)
- Publisher
- Geological Society of America (GSA)
- Format
- pdf
- Copyright
- © Copyright 2005 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.
- Identifiers
- 99380463396906600
- Academic Unit
- School of Edu
- Language
- English
- Course Name
- Earth Sciences; MIddle school