Geology 101— Earth science and the educated voter

1. Geology 101— Earth science and the educated voter Instructor: Pete StellingMWF 3:00-3:50 a.m., SL 150

2. Earth science and the educated voter • Fits within the context of my standard course • Inject a theme based on current or important voter issues

3. My goals for this class • You will all become Nobel Laureates in Geology. • Unfortunately, there is no geology Nobel Prize. • You will all become geology majors • You will learn a new fascination for the world around you. • You will be able to understand science in the news and on the ballot • You will never buy a house in a geologically unstable area.

4. Earth science and the educated voter • Activities are 30 to 60 minutes • Set a scenario • Have students think-pair-share, discuss, etc.

5. WHY DOES THE FOCUS WORK? It gets the students engaged in topics that affect their lives. It also gives them practice in evaluating scenarios by looking up reports on the topic. Earth science and the educated voter WHY DOES THE FOCUS WORK? It gets the students engaged in topics that affect their lives. It also gives them practice in evaluating scenarios by looking up reports on the topic.

6. Earth science and the educated voter WHAT TRADE-OFFS HAVE YOU MADE? Cutting out sections of my syllabus that I thought were essential, like deserts, orogeny, and minerals.

7. Earth science and the educated voter WHY DOES THE FOCUS WORK? It gets the students engaged in topics that affect their lives. It also gives them practice in evaluating scenarios by looking up reports on the topic.

8. WHAT SUCCESSES HAVE YOU OBSERVED? • Engaged students are more engaged • Marginal students are sometimes more engaged • Slackers remain slackers • More voters Earth science and the educated voter

9. Geology in the News M7.9 M7.0 Mt. Ruapehu, NZ M8.5