The Geoscience Education Outreach Program is a graduate student community outreach effort by the Earth and Planetary Sciences department at the University of California, Riverside. UCR graduate students will travel to your school and give fun and interesting presentations about a variety of Earth Science topics to your students, as a community service at no cost to your school. Programs include short presentations, adjusted to a particular age/grade bracket, on a variety of topics, which are followed by hands-on activities meant to show students how fun and accessible science can be. Topics offered are:
- Earthquakes
- Volcanoes
- Fossils
- Rocks and Minerals
- Climate Change
This program enables graduate students who specialize in these areas of research to present them to students in your school, showing them how fun and interesting the geosciences are!
Programs will last about an hour, and will be given to one class at a time with the assistance of the teacher. Presentations are crafted for Kindergarten up to High School, and activities are designed to be hands-on for all students in the classroom.
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Fossils
The paleontology program here at UCR has put together an amazing collection that will teach your students that they already have the most important tool necessary for scientific discovery...CURIOSITY! The collection includes the long canine tooth of a Saber-toothed cat, the devastating claw of a Velociraptor, and a full scale replica of a T. Rex foot! Your students will be walked through exercises using the fossils in order to hypothesize how animals may have lived in the past and how they became fossils in the first place. Kids are encouraged to touch and interact with anything brought into the classroom, making this a memorable, fun, and informative presentation.
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Earthquakes
Earthquakes can certainly be scary, but they are a very exciting as well as an important part of California's history and landscape. The scientists in the Earthquake Processes lab at UCR will teach your students about what earthquakes are, how we study them, and more! Special seismic activity sensors and the "earthquake machine" will help your students learn about the science of studying earthquakes as well as the fun in learning about them.
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Volcanoes
Have you ever wondered how or why volcanoes erupt? Or why some volcanoes are more dangerous than others? We have the answers to these questions and more! Your students will be amazed by the video of real volcanic eruptions, rock samples from active volcanoes, and hands-on activities demonstrating different lava flows. They will have a great learning experience while being exposed to one of the most important processes on Earth.
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Climate change
Learn how changes in temperature, sea level and weather can affect you! We will explain the difference between weather and climate, and how climate has changed over Earth's history. Also, we'll explain what ice, trees, fossils, and rocks can tell us about the past climates and environment. Let us teach your students the tools to understand how the Earth can change!
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Rocks and Minerals
Geologists from UCR will introduce your students to common rocks and minerals in the world around them. Using practical activities, the class will learn about common minerals and how to identify them, basic rock types, and how we all use rocks and minerals every day. All materials, including rocks, minerals, handouts, and supplemental teaching information will be provided.
Programs available by appointment
Geology 2460
Riverside CA 92521
(951) 827-5116
Heather McCandless
heather.mccandless@email.ucr.edu