Creation of an Interdisciplinary Earth Materials Testing Laboratory to Enhance Undergraduate Science Education

地球系统科学(40)该项目正在通过购买实验室设备来提高科学素养，以创建一个现代化的地球材料测试实验室。开展以动手、探究为基础的实验活动使学生有机会探索、测试和分析地球材料的各种行为和特征。该项目强调现场采样和使用实际地球材料进行实验室实验的经验。这个地球材料测试实验室可容纳8门高、低级理科课程，每学期影响约500名学生。这包括符合大学理科普通学位要求的班级学生，教育专业(小学、中学和中学)，获得地理、地质、地球科学和自然科学辅修的学生，以及获得地理和自然科学专业的学生。实验室活动的重点是与地球材料测试有关的五个主题。这些主题包括(1)材料取样和描述，(2)粒度分布分析，(3)沉积物性质的测量，(4)材料对环境应力的反应说明和测试，以及(5)河流沉积过程的说明和测试。这些主题使学生能够通过模拟大量浪费、水文流动、泥沙运输和地球材料对压力的反应，对地球材料影响他们生活的过程有一个内在的理解。这五个主题贯穿了地球科学课程，让学生们领略到课程中课程之间的相互关系。通过参与科学探究，学生对科学方法有了更深的理解。这些地球科学练习正在使用发布在互联网上的数字视频进行扩充，使学生能够比较和对比他们的实验结果。正在从俄克拉荷马州立大学、南卡罗来纳大学、密苏里东南州立大学和艾伯塔大学的项目以及《地球科学教育杂志》和该领域其他期刊上描述的项目中改编材料。

Earth Systems Science (40)This project is enhancing scientific literacy through the acquisition of laboratory equipment to create a modern Earth Materials Testing Laboratory. The development of hands-on, inquiry based laboratory activities allows students the opportunity to explore, test and analyze various behaviors and characteristics of earth materials. The project emphasizes experience in field sampling and laboratory experimentation with actual earth materials. This Earth Materials Testing Laboratory accommodates eight lower and upper level science courses, impacting approximately 500 students per semester. This includes students enrolled in classes that satisfy the University's science general degree requirement, education majors (elementary, middle and secondary), students obtaining minors in geography, geology, earth science and natural science, and students obtaining majors in geography and natural science. Laboratory activities focus on five themes related to earth materials testing. These themes include (1) material sampling and description, (2) analysis of grain size distribution; (3) measurement of sediment properties; (4) illustration and testing of material responses to environmental stresses; and (5) illustration and testing of fluvial processes. These themes allow students to develop an inherent understanding of the processes by which earth materials impact their lives through simulation of mass wasting, hydrologic flow, sediment transport and the response of earth materials to stress. These five themes cut across the earth science curriculum and allow students to appreciate the interrelationships between courses in a curriculum. By participating in scientific inquiry, students are gaining a deeper appreciation for the scientific method. These earth science exercises are being augmented using digital video posted to the Internet which allows students to compare and contrast their experimental results. Materials are being adapted from projects at Oklahoma State University, the University of South Carolina, Southeast Missouri State University, and the University of Alberta as well as those described in the Journal of Geoscience Education and other journals in the field.