Learning Science through Inquiry and Experimentation: A Planetary Geology Upward Bound Course for High School Students

We developed a course in planetary geology for high school students where each lesson is organized around a hands-on laboratory experiment. One of our goals is to engage high school students in science with an emphasis on active learning, with a focus on helping the students learn to learn rather than on content absorption. We specifically targeted students in two of Hawaii's Upward Bound Programs, who are predominantly low income, from families in which neither parent holds a bachelor's degree, and are of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander heritage. The students take a learning questionnaire at the beginning of the course to help them identify what learning techniques work best for them. The first lesson studies the Sun and subsequent lessons involve the planets moving away from the Sun. The lessons involve relevant subjects such as the Greenhouse Effect, the debate of the existence of water and/or life on Mars, and data from current missions, e.g., Phoenix. The course culminates in a capstone project where the students, working in groups, build their own model spacecraft for a mission of their design using a designated theoretical budget. We use Moodle to dispense information, communicate with the students, and administer journal questions and surveys. The following materials are available on line: modular lesson plans, including questions for each lesson, materials for teaching the lessons e.g., short power point presentations, specific notes and suggestions on each lesson, and background reading for students and teachers. We incorporated multiple active learning techniques into the course: cooperative, spiral, and jigsaw learning were the most prevalent. A knowledge survey was given to the students on the first and last day of the class to assess learning and confidence growth. An exam was given at the end of the course and was compared with the knowledge survey.