Texas Science Teachers Learn About Bureau Resources and Opportunities
Lucy Phlegar and Linda Ruiz McCall at the Bureau exhibit at CAST.
Bureau Information Geologist Linda Ruiz McCall and Geophysical Log Facility Administrative Associate Lucy Phlegar joined K–12 science educators in attending the annual Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST), which was held recently in Houston.
Approximately 3,500 teachers traveled to CAST from across the state to obtain science resources and training experiences for their students and other educators that were not able to attend. The meeting provided an excellent forum for Bureau of Economic Geology staff to communicate directly with educators and learn about their current challenges as well as their feelings about teaching earth science topics. Overall, the interest in geoscience was strong at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, which was welcome news.
Educational resources featuring EarthDate posters and Bureau educational publications were distributed at both the Bureau booth and the Texas Earth Science Teachers Association (TESTA) Share-A-Thon. Teachers were also notified about an opportunity to work with the Gulf Coast Carbon Center’s researchers in a new initiative to develop carbon sequestration curriculum as part of a new U.S. Department of Energy grant.
Lucy Phlegar inviting teachers to “spin to win” a rock or mineral sample at the Bureau booth.
Teachers attending CAST were happy to receive Bureau maps and other educational resources at the TESTA Share-A-Thon.
