Teaching Geology
Teaching Geology
One of my classes this term is Geology 340: Hydrology, in which we learn about the processes that govern groundwater movement. I enjoy learning about this topic because, in a sense, hydrology is just oceanography on land (this is not that accurate, but I like the comparison). Learning about historical and contemporary hydrological case studies, including the hydrology of Carleton’s new geothermal system, has been very interesting, and I look forward to the rest of the term!
For the past few weeks, small groups of students have been teaching one class each. Each group is assigned a topic and some readings, and teaches a class on those topics so that everyone learns about it. My group taught a class on groundwater velocity, transmissivity, and storativity, three concepts related to how water moves through the rock below ground. We introduced each concept, then showed how to calculate each one, and finally helped the class work through problems related to the places we’ve been studying. We all thought that our lesson went very well, and many students seemed to understand the ideas we had taught.
By teaching this class, my group and I gained https://essaysonline.org an https://teaching.berkeley.edu/ appreciation for the work put into teaching a hydrology class. It is difficult to teach new concepts in ways that everyone will understand. Even when we used multiple methods of explanation, we struggled to explain the concepts well enough that every student understood the activities and problems. That being said, through planning each section we learned how to explain concepts in a variety of ways including figures and diagrams, derivations, real-world examples, and connections to past work and examples. In the future, I may be responsible for teaching courses as a TA or a professor, so I’m glad I have had opportunities at Carleton to practice these skills!
Jacob is a senior physics major interested in climate science and oceanography. Jacob enjoys eating, sleeping, and hanging out with friends — the simple things in life. At Carleton, Jacob works in the physics department and captains the Gods of Plastic, Carleton’s nationally competitive Division III men’s ultimate team. Meet the other bloggers!