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Katie Foreman, upper left, of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources describes water testing for earth science teachers from around Iowa during a University of Northern Iowa workshop this week in Cedar Falls.
Photos by RICK CHASE / Courier Staff Photographer
Photos by RICK CHASE / Courier Staff Photographer
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Geology teachers get 'down and dirty' at UNI workshop
By EMILY CHRISTENSEN, Courier Staff Writer
CEDAR FALLS --- Kelen Panec kicked off her tennis shoes and slid on a pair of waiting sandals.
The bugs were waiting.
Panec, along with about two dozen Iowa earth science teachers, waded ankle deep into Dry Run Creek earlier this week testing the water's quality and learning ways to engage their students in similar activities once school starts again this fall. They were all part of the fourth annual Geology of Iowa workshop, a program designed to get teachers out of the classroom for a closer look at the state's geology and topography. The Iowa Limestone Producers Association funds the week.
"This week is giving me information I didn't have before. What we are doing here, I'm not very good at," said Panec, an eighth grade teacher at Central Middle School. "Hopefully this is something I can now take back to my students."
Jim Walters, head of the University of Northern Iowa's earth science department, said it would be much easier and cheaper to provide each teacher with a packet of information and samples of rocks, fossils and bugs they could use with their students. But, the experience is enhanced so much more, he said, when they are out in the field, finding their own fossils and rocks.
"They can better understand these resources and take them back to the classroom," he said.
And the excitement these teachers have toward the topic is clear when Cortney Dierks, an eighth grade science teacher at Hoover, discovers a bloodworm in the creek.
"It isn't everyday you get to find a bloodworm," said Glenn Varner from Metro High School in Cedar Rapids.
But, before the group could head into the water, they had to first look at the plant life covering the banks and how nearby land is used. Both could have an extreme impact on the creek, said Dave Ratliff, a volunteer with Iowater project, a volunteer water monitoring program. The nearby rows of apartments could have a different impact on the small creek than if the land was left unused or was covered in trees. Bugs living in the water would give the teachers a better idea of what kind of runoff might have invaded the water.
Brenda Hack, a special needs aide at Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, said the weeklong adventure gives her the opportunity to develop a better science background that wasn't available in her graduate work.
"This excites and rejuvenates my interest in science," she said. "I hope to share that with my students and excite them, too."
Bringing field trips like this back to the classroom will be easy for Andrew Strottman, a seventh grade teacher at Linn-Mar in Marion. The school has a wetland and prairie on campus.
"Students need that real-life experience instead of reading it out of a book," Strottman said.
Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1520 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.
The bugs were waiting.
Panec, along with about two dozen Iowa earth science teachers, waded ankle deep into Dry Run Creek earlier this week testing the water's quality and learning ways to engage their students in similar activities once school starts again this fall. They were all part of the fourth annual Geology of Iowa workshop, a program designed to get teachers out of the classroom for a closer look at the state's geology and topography. The Iowa Limestone Producers Association funds the week.
"This week is giving me information I didn't have before. What we are doing here, I'm not very good at," said Panec, an eighth grade teacher at Central Middle School. "Hopefully this is something I can now take back to my students."
Jim Walters, head of the University of Northern Iowa's earth science department, said it would be much easier and cheaper to provide each teacher with a packet of information and samples of rocks, fossils and bugs they could use with their students. But, the experience is enhanced so much more, he said, when they are out in the field, finding their own fossils and rocks.
"They can better understand these resources and take them back to the classroom," he said.
And the excitement these teachers have toward the topic is clear when Cortney Dierks, an eighth grade science teacher at Hoover, discovers a bloodworm in the creek.
"It isn't everyday you get to find a bloodworm," said Glenn Varner from Metro High School in Cedar Rapids.
But, before the group could head into the water, they had to first look at the plant life covering the banks and how nearby land is used. Both could have an extreme impact on the creek, said Dave Ratliff, a volunteer with Iowater project, a volunteer water monitoring program. The nearby rows of apartments could have a different impact on the small creek than if the land was left unused or was covered in trees. Bugs living in the water would give the teachers a better idea of what kind of runoff might have invaded the water.
Brenda Hack, a special needs aide at Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, said the weeklong adventure gives her the opportunity to develop a better science background that wasn't available in her graduate work.
"This excites and rejuvenates my interest in science," she said. "I hope to share that with my students and excite them, too."
Bringing field trips like this back to the classroom will be easy for Andrew Strottman, a seventh grade teacher at Linn-Mar in Marion. The school has a wetland and prairie on campus.
"Students need that real-life experience instead of reading it out of a book," Strottman said.
Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1520 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.
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