Peter Kennett of the Earth Science Education Unit stepped in at very short 
notice when one of the other speakes had to withdraw through ill health, 
and so the summary of his important contribution was not available for the 
either the YGS Circular or the website, so I am circulating it by by-mail 
now.



Patrick Boylan
YGS Web Editor)

==================

"Is this the way you were taught Geology? Recent developments in methods of 
teaching Earth science in schools" by Peter Kennett, Earth Science 
Education Unit

Virtually all pupils in the maintained sector of school education are 
currently required to follow the National Curriculum. Earth science 
comprises approximately 4% of the National Curriculum for Science, with 
some complementary aspects within the Geography curriculum. Five versions 
of the National Curriculum have been published since its inception in the 
late 1980s.

Support for science teachers, many of whom lack any geological background, 
has been patchy, with publishers rushing into print with much erroneous 
material. The Earth Science 
Teachers' 
Association (ESTA) has voluntarily endeavoured to provide accurate, 
practical materials, but has suffered from not being widely known. The 
Association for Science Education and the learned scientific societies have 
provided sympathetic moral support 
- 
the ASE by encouraging an Earth Science input at its conferences and the 
societies by sponsoring a website with Earth flavoured activities in each 
of their own specialisms (www.esta-uk.net/jesei/index). All these 
initiatives are aimed at giving teachers the confidence to carry out 
practical investigations in Earth science and not simply to tell their 
pupils to scratch a few rocks and to write up the Rock Cycle from a 
textbook.

The Earth Science Education Unit was formed in 1999, with the support of 
Oil and Gas UK (formerly UKOOA), and now has over 40 facilitators across 
Great Britain offering Continuing Professional Development in Primary and 
Secondary schools and teacher education establishments for travel and 
incidental costs only. See www.earthscienceeducation.com

A new website, www.earthlearningidea.com was formed in 2007, for 
UNESCO's 
International Year of Planet Earth, and continues to publish Earth science 
activities at regular intervals. Some 90 activities are now freely 
available, aimed largely at teacher training institutions and schools in 
Third World countries, with little or no equipment. It is all the more 
remarkable that the site is run by three geology teachers with no funding 
whatever; the site is being used in over 160 countries and the activities 
are being translated by enthusiastic volunteers into seven other languages!

At A Level, Geology entries across the country dropped from a maximum of 
nearly 4000 in the 1980s to around 1500, but have recently risen to nearly 
2000. The importance of A Level or even GCSE in Geology as an inspiration 
for a career in the Earth sciences cannot be stressed highly enough, and 
yet the subject is often seen as a soft target for cuts when a geology 
teacher retires or times are hard. ESTA continues to assist teachers in 
delivering A Level and GCSE Geology and members have access to a wide range 
of innovative resources, again developed by volunteers. (www.esta-uk.net).

Members of local geological societies can play a valuable role in raising 
the profile of the subject by offering to become "Ambassadors" to schools, 
or to run events for National Science Week in March, both through their 
local STEMPOINT base; by promoting Rockwatch - the national club for young 
geologists; by informing contacts in education, at home or overseas about 
the websites named above. Age is no barrier!

====================

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