East Victoria Park Primary School Visit 2017

During November Earth Dynamic Research Group members Amaury Pourteau and Erin Martin, along with Curtin PhD Student Samuel Bain, visited students at East Victoria Park Primary School. The 5^th and 6^th graders, and their teacher Mr Ranford were all very excited to have their science lesson taught by some real-life scientists.

The lesson focussed on teaching the students about geology and plate tectonics using the fundamental principles of scientific enquiry – the Scientific Method.

Two classes of students helped answer questions such as “Why do the continents seem to fit together like puzzle pieces?” and “Do the continents move?” by using observations, interpretations, conducting experiments and making predictions. The students were fascinated to learn why earthquakes occur so suddenly, why there are so many volcanoes around the Pacific Ring of Fire, and how the fossil record was used to hypothesize continental drift.

Of course, no geology lesson would be complete without inspecting some rocks! Samples of granite, basalts, banded-iron formation, faulted and folded rocks and a variety of fossil specimens were taken to the class. The students were especially intrigued by the basketball sized piece of pumice that they were able to lift over their heads.

The Earth Dynamic Research Group visit to East Victoria Park Primary School was a wonderfully successful science outreach event. A continuing line of communication will remain between the students and the Research Group. Amaury and Erin will keep in touch with the students via Mr Ranford who will send out “Ask the scientist” emails, to help answer any geo-related questions that crop up during science class.

We certainly hope that we were able to inspire some young scientific minds and look forward to next year’s visit.