Entrance Slip / Inquiry Topic Possibilities

3 areas of education you are passionately interested in and may want to do your Inquiry 1 and 2 Project:

1 A) Practical components of Earth Science and its relevancy in the learning.

    B) Field trips and the power of abstraction. 

2)The importance of knowing the history and evolution of planet Earth.

3) Controversy in Geological techniques. 

1 A and B) As most of the disciplines in science, it has got a theory and a practical component. But how important is it in geology to have the practical component? As it usually happens with students who study geology, they struggle in picturing or imagining what are the phenomenons they are studying.

A field trip can contribute enormously to the students learning. If they are able to see and touch a geological phenomenon or event, they will absorb the information showing incredible results. Most of the patterns and structures we can find in the field of geology have got a strong visual impact. 

Geology can be absorbed through the senses, for instance, sight and touch. Moreover, the expression of geology can be found almost everywhere, without the need of going far. 

2) The geological processes that operate in the present are the same that used to operate in the past, what we have now, is a result of previous ones. The importance of understanding the history and evolution of the Earth relies on finding the key to understand the present. 

"El presente es la clave del pasado" James Hutton.  

Most of the time, in the field of Geology, students cannot find the right way to understand a phenomenon. A helpful idea is to transmit that Geology is a changing and dynamic subject, and that there are several ways of picturing the process. 

3) Controversial topics are really popular in the field of Geology. It is really important to see the whole picture. Mining and oil industries are just a few examples of how students have got only one opinion due to the misleading information they receive. We have to make the think critically, by showing both sides of the story.