Transcript Earth Science and the NYC Urban Environment

Wayne Powell
Brooklyn College
GEOL 613
Earth Science
and the NYC
Urban Environment
The Context for Course Design

Specific Impetus
• Part of an NSF-funded project in
partnership with the American Museum
of Natural History
• Integration of education in formal and
non-formal environments
The Context for Course Design

Needs of the Project
• Integration of museums and other nonformal learning environments into the
curriculum
The Context for Course Design

Specific Programmatic Position
• First (and possibly only) Earth Science
course taken by teachers…
… Introductory course
The Context for Course Design

Needs of the Program
• No pre-requisite experience in geology
• Leave them wanting more!
(Need to build the program)
The Context for Course Design

Specific Audience
• In-service teachers with little or no
background in geology who are seeking
a second certification in Earth Science;
• In-service elementary school teachers
who require additional credits in science
The Context for Course Design

Needs of the Audience
• Course must correspond (at least in
part) to state defined content areas
• Connect science with literacy and social
studies
• Allow for quality teaching in schools with
insufficient budgets
The Product

Earth Science & the NYC Urban Environment
• Introduces a broad range of geological concepts
(rocks, plate tectonics, erosion, weather)

Essential if it is the only course taken
• Puts geological concepts into the context of NYC’s
history and development

Essential for elementary school teachers, and provides a
common context on which to map new material
• Substitutes three weeks of classroom meetings for
activities in NYC parks and neighborhoods

Essential for fulfillment of NSF proposal and obligations to
AMNH; Models use of “free-of-charge” educational
materials
The Product

Earth Science & the NYC Urban Environment

Designed around four guiding questions:
• Of what is the city built?

Introduction to minerals and rocks, and their properties through
the context of building stone
• On what is the city built?

More in depth discussions of rocks common in the NYC area, and a
discussion of NYC regional geography
• How has the NYC environment changed?

Introduction to historical geology, plate tectonics, erosion,
deposition, and anthropogenic processes in context of NYC
• Why did the city develop here?

Linking Hudson trade routes and New York Harbor, availability of
steel, etc., to geological processes