Integrated inquiry-based investigations on the
Mad River, Greene County:
Chemistry, Earth Science, and a new Evaluation
tool for Pre-Service Teachers
Michael Sandy, Geology Department, UD
Kumar Nedunuri, Water Resources Management, CSU
Suzanne Lunsford, Chemistry Department, WSU
GOALS
• Develop an interdisciplinary unit that incorporates
chemistry and geology into groundwater/surficial
water studies
• Incorporate inquiry
• Use a local bedrock outcrop that allowed
investigation of geology, fossil collecting, and
discussion of carbonate in water
• Selected sites that allowed students to record data
and then analyse results and sythesize
• Select sites for different groundwater/surface
water conditions
• Incorporate assessment of unit
• For MRS this was a particularly relevant to a class
taught in the Integrated Natural Science Sequence
at the University of Dayton: SCI The Dynamic
Earth
• This class has evolved into GEO 204 Geology of
Teachers during the award of this grant
Huffman Dam
Length of Dam - 3,340 feet
Height of Dam - 65 feet
Width of Dam at Base - 385 feet
Volume of Earth in Embankment - 1,655,000 cubic yards
Applying Equilibrium Chemistry to explain
dissolution of minerals from the bedrock and
water quality in a nearby stream
Geologic outcrop near the dam Mad river by the Huffman Dam
Study of Water Quality
• The following parameters were measured/estimated:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Flow (qualitative)
Temperature
pH
Nitrite/Nitrate
Phosphorus
Dissolved oxygen
Carbon dioxide
The field trips
• Students visited both the
bedrock outcrop by the
railroad and the river
• Studied the geology of the
site: collected rock samples
and fossils
• Water samples were
collected from the Mad
River and the bedrock
outcrop by the railroad
UD/CSU field trip
UD/CSU field trip
UD/CSU field trip
UD/CSU field trip
UD/CSU field trip
UD/CSU field trip
Geology Pretest - Posttest
Tabulated results for Geology
Pretest and Posttest
Question Pretest %
correct
Posttest %
correct
1
2
3
4
5
Average
94.4
88.8
66.6
33.3
100
74.4%
83.3
38.8
22.2
22.2
88.8
55.1%
Assessment
• Pre-test, Post-test, and Inquiry module were
prepared.
• The questions were designed to familiarize students
with different problem solving steps.
• Different learning tools were used.
• The levels of difficulty in questions corresponded to
different levels of Blooms’ taxonomy of higher
order thinking.
• Post-test scores were 42 points out of 100 points.
The normalized gain for the pre-post-test results was
0.72 for these 14 students in Chemistry 346.
According to R.R. Hake these are typical results of a
more inquiry-based course compared to the
traditional.
Future
• Future collaborative fieldtrips
• Publication . . .
• Integrate live-data from United States Geological
Survey monitoring
• Relate local enviroment to global issues:
– Flooding
– Carbon cycle; global warming
Specimen of the trilobite Isotelus
from Huffman Dam construction - 41 cm long