The future viability of the geosciences is challenged, since as a community we continue to lack demographic diversity representative of the wider population. Fundamentally, dominant cultural, historical, and socioeconomic factors contribute to the lack of diversity and those factors typically change slowly over generations. Proposals for more…

The geosciences consist of multiple disciplines including geology, oceanography, and atmospheric science. Significant work expended to understand spatial thinking skills important to teaching and learning geology has advanced our ability to support students in geology courses and to achieve increased student success, retention, and diversity in…

The 2018 Cleveland conference screened a documentary film titled "Symbiotic Earth: How Lynn Margulis Rocked the Boat and Started a Scientific Revolution." NAMTA conference participants enjoyed this memorable premier event in honor of Lynn Margulis, her symbiotic worldview, and her intimate community of scientific stars. This article is…

Education and outreach bring science to the general public, engage families, and ignite a passion for science in youth to seek careers in STEM. However, engagement in science depends on access, and language can be a major barrier. To ensure a welcoming, inclusive, and diverse community in the geosciences, we are calling for a community of practice…

Tao, Oliver, and Venville's paper addresses a debate between two hypotheses of children's development of conceptual understandings of the Earth. The authors aim to investigate whether culture influences students' conceptions of the Earth. However, one questionable assumption shared among conception and conceptual change studies is that researchers…

This commentary seeks to expand the dialogue on place-based science education presented in Katie Lynn Brkich's article, where the connections fifth grade students make between their formal earth science curriculum and their lived experiences are highlighted. The disconnect between the curriculum the students are offered and their immediate…

America is blessed with two river systems that feed and nourish the country by their periodic flooding. One mighty river is "individualism" (the entrepreneurial drive to advance and make a difference). The other river is "community" (wherein communal interests strengthen the whole community over the parts). Monitoring and regulating these two…

This commentary paper focuses upon the loss of respect for Earth Sciences on the part of many school districts across the United States. Too many Earth Science teachers are uncertified to teach Earth Science, or hold certificates to teach the subject merely because they took a test. The Earth Sciences have faced this problem for many years…

Cognitive science research shows that the brain has two systems for processing visual information, one specialized for spatial information such as position, orientation, and trajectory, and the other specialized for information used to identify objects, such as color, shape and texture. Some individuals seem to be more facile with the spatial…

2009 marked the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth (February 12) and the 150th anniversary (in November) of the publication of Darwin's "extended abstract" "On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection." Universities, scientific societies, and disciplinary journals anticipated this event by organizing meetings, theme…

In this article, the authors provide an overview and critically analyze three successful faculty-developed urban K-12 science outreach programs. They consider a successful outreach program as one that has been sustained for at least five years after initial funding, and has provided empirically-based research findings from the program.…

An introduction to the science of speleology is presented. Discussed is why people explore caves--for the physical challenge, the thrill of discovery, and the joy of viewing their beauty. Cave conservation, cave biology, caving safety, and caving equipment are topics of discussion. A reading list on caves is included. (KR)

This paper examines how the exploration of space has affected life on earth. Examined are milestones in space, war or peace in space, learning about earth from space, the satellite communications revolution, space industrialization, and the ownership of space. The real beginning of the Space Age was the October 1957 Soviet launch of a 184-pound…

Introduces the concept of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as an approach for integrating and synthesizing disparate information for use in the secondary geography and earth science curriculum. Reviews basic concepts and instructional approaches to familiarize teachers with the relative simplicity of GIS implementation. (Author/GEA)

Although the concepts taught through physics and chemistry are very important, those taught through earth science are perhaps even more readily applicable for many rural students. (Author)