C.U. rocks Earth Science Week

Concord University’s Geology Club has been celebrating Earth Science Week in great style, though they started a little late. 

    “Technically Earth Science Week was last week,” said Dr. Kuehn, Manager of the Microprobe Lab and Professor of Geology, “But because we didn’t know the week, we couldn’t get our materials together and the participants assembled in time”. 

    Earth Science Week, according to the official website, is a week dedicated to help the public better understand the Earth and geoscience, to help the public appreciate the Earth and geoscience, and to encourage good stewardship of the planet. To do this, the site has many outreach programs that schools can use to teach students, such as Fossil Day and No Child Left Inside Day. 

    As they missed the actual week, Dr. Kuehn and his group have decided to spread out these events past one week. “Since we started late, we have begun our activities on October 23 when we went to Pikeview High School. We plan on going to Athens Elementary School on Thursday, October 30. We’re also trying to set something up at Bluefield High School in November. This is the first time we’ve celebrated Earth Science Week, so we’re pretty excited to have all of these outreach programs planned.” “The first outreach program already happened, as I said,” Kuehn continued, “We went to Pikeview High School on October 23, and talked to students there about geoscience and tried to get them interested in it.

    Members of the Geology Club assisted me in this. The ones that participated in this outreach program were Savannah Ballengee, Matt Merson, and Eric Arrington. What we did at Pikeview High was create a Geological Timeline. We took a piece of tape that was about 45 feet long. The teacher opened the classroom door for us, and the tape spanned two rooms at full length. Students then put paper slips on the tape that showed the progression of major geological events, like when fossils of certain animals first appeared, for instance. 

    Speaking of fossils, one of the student volunteers (I can’t remember his name now) brought in a petrified tree trunk. It was cool to because you could see the bark, but it was flattened.” When asked about the upcoming Athens Elementary trip, Dr. Kuehn had a great deal to say. “Before I start, know that all of this is subject to change. For this Athens trip, Sierra Ramsey, Suzanne Skeldon, and Sierra Foust are coming. Savannah Ballengee will also be joining us again. The plan for Athens Elementary is to take fossil samples for the students to touch and see. We’ll be talking about the fossils, as well as playing ‘The Fossil Game’. 

    The idea of ‘The Fossil Game’ is to let the students act like a creature from ancient times. They get to run around, pretending to be a dinosaur or something like that until ‘The End’ comes. Then they draw their fate from a hat. Most say things like ‘eaten by scavengers’ and things of that nature. Only one or two of them say ‘becomes a fossil’. This trying to teach students that not everything becomes a fossil, and that most plants and animals do not. Especially if they’re soft and squishy.” 

    Any student wishing to participate in Earth Science Week outreach programs is encouraged to do so. “Students not in Geology Club can get involved with these outreach programs. It’d be a good way for education majors to get their volunteer hours as well as practice conveying scientific ideas  students.” Those wanting to participate in Earth Science Week should contact Dr. Kuehn via his email, sckuehn@concord.edu.