The Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) has numerous resources for K-12 classroom teachers that focus on Earth Science, career exposure, and STEM integration. This session will begin with a brief overview of several of the free Earth Science resources available to educators in Oklahoma. Next, we will model an activity we've designed called a GeoQuest. This flexible geology journey will provide teachers with a framework to develop their own GeoQuest. As participants solve short geology puzzles as a group, they receive a geology specimen (rock, mineral, or fossil) for their collection. After solving all of the puzzles on their GeoQuest, participants will receive a "Rock Placemat" to help them identify the parts of their collection, which they keep and may continue to explore as a class or individually. The GeoQuest is flexible in length and difficulty, and can be adapted for different groups of students. After a demo of what the GeoQuest looks like, teachers will work in small groups to develop a few puzzles of their own to get started, linking the puzzle to a performance expectation or disciplinary core idea. The session presenter will be available as a resource following the K20 ILI to assist and provide feedback on GeoQuests developed by teachers. Once complete, teachers can request that OGS deliver the geology specimens to those teachers interested in enacting the GeoQuest in their own classrooms. The specimens will include a mixture of rocks, minerals, and fossils, and students will keep these collections as a personal kit. The practices that this session will focus on include authentic teaching examples, personalized environments for different age groups, teacher collaboration, inquiry about specimens, and community connections to OGS resources. Participants will leave the session with a greater awareness of the free resources available from the Oklahoma Geological Survey, as well as some brainstormed activities to continue to work on as they complete their own GeoQuest program.
