BlueSci

What on Earth?

Wednesday, 26 April 2006

Michelle Pope and Sebastian Watt explain how teaching about geology is truckloads of fun

Geology can be a bit of an odd science. On the one hand there are researchers who spend their entire lives looking at fossilized remains of long-dead animals; on the other are those who spend their careers modelling the dynamics of modern climate change. However, if you ask most children what they think geology is about, you�ll get one word in response: �Dinosaurs�.

Shool visit 2004: Volunteers Corin Hughes (left) and Daniel Hobley show the Time Truck clock to children in the Truck. Credit: Susan Conway

Time Truck aims to build on this passion, shared by so many children, by introducing them to the variety of ideas and subjects which geology encompasses. Each year a group of enthusiastic students and staff from the Department of Earth Sciences and Sedgwick Museum descends upon local primary schools in the last week of Lent term to teach children about the varied and exciting subject of geology. As the name suggests, Time Truck is centred around a truck�a seven-tonne one, to be precise� in which children can discover exciting posters and models explaining some of the fundamental aspects of geology.The centrepiece is the geological clock, which compacts all 4.6 billion years of Earth�s history into just 24 hours.There are also four posters in the truck that cover some key aspects of Earth Sciences: the evolution of life, plate tectonics, climates, and geological hazards. These topics are brought to life both by the interactive posters and by accompanying displays, including a jigsaw showing how the continents have moved over the past 200 million years, a model volcano that erupts, and a 3D model of Great Britain showing which parts of the country will be submerged as sea levels rise (watch out, Cambridgeshire!). The children are highly entertained by the exploding volcano and the flooding, and while having so much fun, they learn some memorable facts.They also have the unique opportunity to handle rocks and fossils from the Sedgwick Museum.It�s always great fun to watch them try to work out how you can find desert rocks on top of Scottish hills, or why seashells can be found at the tops of mountains. They even get to handle dinosaur bones. A great time is had by children and volunteers alike. The only problem is that there�s never enough time to see everything.

Time Truck also has two open days, allowing a wider audience to experience hands-on geology and talk to volunteers about all aspects of earth sciences. In February Time Truck runs handling sessions as part of the Sedgwick Museum�s Fabulous Fossiliferous Family Fun Day. Time Truck also runs an open day on the final Saturday of Lent term in the Department of Earth Sciences as part of the Cambridge Science Festival. All the posters and models from the truck are featured, along with a few extra ones, with volunteers on hand to answer questions. Families can handle the fossils and rocks, and the dinosaurs prove very popular once again. This year the Time Truck also featured its first field trip�through geological time. Children were taken on a walk through the last 630 million years of the Earth�s history (along an 18-metre timeline board set out in the Downing Site car park) to find out when some of the most important events occurred, including the evolution of those ever-popular dinosaurs.

In addition to these annual events, 2006 saw Time Truck go national! The Truck attended the launch of the Fforest Fawr Geopark in the Brecon Beacons, allowing visitors to enjoy all the displays and specimens available at the Cambridge Science Festival.This was a wonderful opportunity for volunteers to enthuse and educate a group of children that they normally would not be able to reach.

Time Truck has been going strong for eight years now. It depends increasingly on sponsorship from both national and local businesses and organizations, including the donation of models and children�s books. However, most of the displays and all the posters are constructed by the volunteers themselves. The success of Time Truck relies entirely on the group of student volunteers from the Department of Earth Sciences and the staff of the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, who provide many hours of advice and support. Time Truck has been a great success since it began in 1998 and will hopefully continue to grow long into the future.

www.timetruck.co.uk

Sebastian Watt and Michelle Pope are Time Truck Co-ordinators for 2005 and 2006

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