Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407280061
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By PETER S. WILLIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Glaciers?
"Glaciers," said McCloud, who teaches at North Stafford High School. "Who would have thought we had glaciers at one point in Virginia? But it's the only way to explain our findings around Mount Rogers."
McCloud should know. For four weeks, he and 21 of his fellow "geological detectives" from high schools across Virginia participated in Radford University's Summer Geology Field School.
The school, which held its final examination last week, introduced the science teachers to geological mapping techniques, data collection methods, scientific reasoning and intensive field study. It is the fourth summer that the field school has been offered since 1987.
The original concept began with Skip Watts, geology professor, and Jon Tso, associate professor of geology, at Radford University. They felt there was a need to bring a hands-on geology education to Earth science teachers throughout Virginia.
"The problem is that most education courses don't include field work," Tso said. "We want every teacher to have a feel for the geology of their region."
The field school was funded by a $51,000 grant through the Eisenhower Math and Sciences Education Act program. Program Administrator Verna Holoman supported the goals outlined by Watts and Tso in their grant proposal.
"Teachers can't provide hands-on experience for their students unless they are comfortable with hands-on experience themselves," Holoman said.
Teachers were not the only group Watts and Tso targeted for a solid geological education. Land-use planners, civil engineers and area politicians are also recipients of a greater geological understanding.
"They are not geologists, but they make decisions in which geology plays a role," Watts said. The most recent program included only in-service and pre-service teachers, however.
"It's helped me to fill in a lot of gaps in my knowledge of the geological history of Virginia," said Rixey Wilcher, Earth science and oceanography teacher at Cox High School in Virginia Beach. "We can teach a lot of geological concepts with Virginia."
Wilcher also credited the field trips, interaction with fellow teachers, new information and new resources as further benefits of the field school.
The month of intensive study had few low points. Roanoke's North Cross School Earth science and chemistry teacher Molly Summerlan experienced hers all in one day.
"I fell in a creek and got stung by a yellow jacket," she smiled. "It was a good day."
Summerlan's unplanned study of stream-bed erosion did little to dampen her enthusiasm for the program.
"I've learned more in the last five weeks than in any geology class I've ever taken," she said.
The field school was not limited to the New River Valley. A five-day camping trip took the group through a variety of geological provinces within Virginia, ranging from the coastal plain to the Appalachian Plateau. For most of those involved, the highlight of the trip was the Culpepper Stone Quarry, where more than 30,000 dinosaur tracks have been exposed and preserved in the baked silt stone. A four-hour tour of the quarry, led by Ron Lidwin of the U.S. Geological Survey, provided ample opportunity for study.
"It was as good as 'Jurassic Park,'" Watts said. "You could visualize the crouching, the walking, the running of the dinosaurs."
The group returned from their five-day excursion with a greater understanding of the varied geology of Virginia.
"This was one of those trips when every day seemed to be more exciting that the day before," Tso said.
McCloud and the other participants have taken to heart the lessons learned in their field school program and discovered a "new way to look at our ever-changing Earth."
Meanwhile, Tso and others are making plans for tomorrow's field school.
Two considerations are a Field School II, which would be a more extensive and in-depth version of the original field school, and a Grand American Tour, which would travel across the country to pursue geological knowledge.
by CNB