'Geology Rocks' 500 at Thornton Middle School

Katy, Texas- The Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) presented lectures to students at Thornton Middle School on Tuesday, November 29th. 

 

A presentation titled ‘Geology Rocks,’ was given to over 500 students throughout the day as four volunteers from the Offshore Site Investigation Geotechnics (SUT-OSIG) School-Touring Committee, made a total of 24 presentations, each lasting approximately fifty minutes long. 

 

Andrew Haigh, chairman of the SUT School-Touring Committee, was the lead volunteer at the event. “It was a great day at Thornton Middle School,” Haigh said “I know the teachers and instructional specialists feel the same. Students were engaged and really enjoyed the presentations and the exhibits.” 

 

The other three volunteers presenting were Michael Martin (Gardline USA), Matilde DeLeon-Hayes (Gardline), and Logan Brant (Geosyntec).

 

Each presentation included a section about fossils, which included a visual aid of a fossilized Megalodon tooth that was six inches across. The Megalodon is an extinct species of shark that was about three times the size of the present day Great White Shark, according to Haigh. 

 

This school-touring event was very important for both the school district and the SUT volunteers because of the crucial time frame in which they are teaching Geology to the students. 

 

“They do not do any more geology after 8th grade, so this is really important to keep them enthused about earth science.” Andrew Haigh said about the importance of presenting ‘Geology Rocks.’ 

 

Since the students will enter high school soon, the avenues which students will choose to study, relating to science, may become more specific, so keeping the students excited about Geology is very important going forward. 

 

“These kids have never really spoken or met with scientists before, so it was a great experience all around.” Haigh concluded.