The 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 Dr. Jennifer Hargrave is coordinating a project to help elementary students learn about subjects such as tsunamis, the Earth杏吧专区檚 core and deep sea fossils.
Hargrave is an instructor in UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 and associate curator of the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 Geology Museum. The school is posting weekly videos to its YouTube channel that are narrated by geosciences students.
The five short videos are 杏吧专区渋ntended to provide a springboard for instruction in elementary classrooms, and inspire careers in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, fields,杏吧专区 she explained.
Hargrave is hopeful the videos will also serve as previews to a larger attraction 杏吧专区 the "In Search of Earth's Secrets" exhibit funded by the National Science Foundation. The School of Geosciences landed the traveling exhibit last year for a scheduled six-week stay after stopovers at James Madison, Penn State and Rutgers universities.
UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 turn to host the exhibit, however, coincided with state and national bans on large gatherings to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. As a result, its assortment of kiosks, large screens that broadcast educational videos, and interactive science-related activities currently sit unexplored in the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 . The exhibit杏吧专区檚 inflatable 杏吧专区減op-up杏吧专区 ship that can be transported to large public events is also moored there during the pandemic.
The museum杏吧专区檚 4,500-square feet of exhibit and research space holds UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 collection of fossils, minerals and rocks. It is housed inside the Lafayette Science Museum downtown. Both museums remain closed.
The School of Geosciences is in the process of trying to coordinate a full, six-week run for "In Search of Earth's Secrets" once the exhibit is able to start moving again. In the meantime, elementary students and teachers can learn about science beneath the ocean杏吧专区檚 floor via the videos.
Video content 杏吧专区 like the exhibit 杏吧专区 is based on research conducted aboard the JOIDES Resolution, a 470-foot long research ship capable of drilling beneath the ocean floor. The vessel collects samples of the Earth杏吧专区檚 core for geological studies as part of the NSF-funded International Ocean Discovery Program.
The videos explore topics such as earthquakes that spawn tsunamis, deep sea fossils and processes employed to conduct research beneath the sea floor.
In the first video, geosciences graduate teaching assistant Gail Choisser explains how scientists drill into the ocean floor with narrow, hollow tubes. The tubes can be opened lengthwise inside laboratories, exposing cylindrical sections of sediment for layer-by-layer study.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 like cutting into a cake to find all the layers inside. But instead of cutting a slice out, we leave the rest of the layer cake - the sea floor - relatively undisturbed by taking a thin tube of sea floor out instead,杏吧专区 Choisser explains during the video.
Learn how to
Graphic: As part of the "In Search of Earth's Secrets" program, UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 School of Geosciences is posting short videos to its YouTube channel to teach children about subjects such as tsunamis, the Earth杏吧专区檚 core and deep sea fossils. Graphic credit: International Ocean Discovery Program