The Orrville High School Earth Science Club Was Created During the 1964-65 School Year

Rocks of

Crafting the

Knowledge of

Stratigraphy

Earth Science Club Orrville High School 841 N. Ella St. Orrville, OH 44667 (330) 682-4661 1. BACKGROUND OF ORGANIZATION: (5 points) What are the goals, objectives and accomplishments of your organization?

The Orrville High School Earth Science Club was created during the 1964-65 school year in order to promote an interest in Environmental and Geologic Science education while supporting and supplementing ideas being taught in the classroom. Of the 605 students enrolled at Orrville High School, 83 are currently members of the Earth Science Club, making it one of the largest organizations within the school. Through its 37 year history, the club has achieved its goals of promoting good stewardship of the environment and building a foundation of awareness and action about the environment by sponsoring day trips, weekend trips, and week-long trips that allow students to experience the environment and expand their knowledge of geology. These trips instill an appreciation for the environment and allow students the opportunity to learn in a hands-on manner. The club also holds a bi-annual newspaper drive that collects 20,000 pounds of paper per year, and launched a pilot program for white paper recycling through Orrville City Schools that now includes 6 other school districts. Funding for all club activities has come from environmentally friendly fundraisers, including an annual citrus sale, environmentally safe detergent sale, and fluorescent light bulb sale.

2. PROJECT SUMMARY: (5 points) Include a description of how the proposal furthers environmental education.

R.O.C.K.S. stands for Rocks of Ohio Crafting the Knowledge of Stratigraphy. If funded, the Earth Science Club will schedule a series of field trips to visit the different strata and geologic features of the state, and will collect rock samples from each of these areas in order to assemble a stratigraphic cross section of the State of Ohio. The goal of the R.O.C.K.S. Program is to promote knowledge not only of the geology of Ohio, but to raise awareness of the environment in general. Giving students the opportunity to study, in depth, the processes that created the different rock strata of Ohio is expected to motivate students to become interested and expand their horizons beyond the geology. Understanding the processes which created the geology of the State of Ohio will give students a foundation from which they can continue exploration of the environment and the sciences. The Ohio R.O.C.K.S. project will facilitate an Environmental Geologic education that will literally lay the foundation on which Ohio was built. Collaboration with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and multiple Ohio State parks and museums will support a multi-faceted inquiry based education of the history, environment, and geology of the Buckeye State.

3. PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: (15 points) Why is the project needed by the target audience?

A student can only learn so much from a textbook. The opportunity to experience geology in a real world context provides more knowledge in a single day than a textbook could demonstrate in a week. A chemistry class without a lab would be incomplete, just as a geology class without fieldwork is missing a vital component. This program would give students the opportunity to study in the field and actually see the effects of the processes that shape our environment. By assembling a stratigraphic profile of the state, the students will be able to clearly see the progression and processes that brought about Ohio’s geology. Any of the 605 students at Orrville High School are able to join the Earth Science Club, and all club members are eligible to go on club funded trips. An average trip attracts anywhere from 10-30 club members, and if the R.O.C.K.S program is instituted, interest in the trips is expected to increase due to the manner in which the program builds upon itself with each successive trip. Orrville currently has two Ecology classes and an Environmental Geology class accredited through the College of Wooster, participates in the Envirothon, and has had requests from students that the curriculum be expanded to include an independent environmental studies program. The interest of Orrville students in environmental education programs is evident and giving students this opportunity will provide a way to connect the knowledge they have learned in the classroom with the real world. 4. PROJECT GOALS/OBJECTIVES: (15 points) In a broad sense, what will be accomplished?

The goal of the Earth Science Club and the R.O.C.K.S. program is to let students reach beyond the textbook and classroom by providing exciting opportunities to study environmental and geologic science. Many students who would fall asleep if they were told to read about stratigraphy in a textbook will jump at the chance to grab a rock hammer and collection bag and hunt for a perfect sample of fossiliferous limestone or Mississippian concretions. Supplementing classroom education with an exciting context to study geology and learn more about the environment can create in students a thirst for knowledge that had never been there before. Each student will create a stratigraphic profile of the State of Ohio, which they will be able to keep or donate to the Earth Science Club, which plans to in turn donate them to Orrville City School District Elementary Schools and Junior High School, or other school districts. The profiles will provide a tangible way for students to see the geology of Ohio.

5. ACTIVITIES AND TIME LINE: (15 points) What are the specific activities to achieve the objectives, and what is the schedule for completion?

The proposed calendar of trips during the 2002-2003 school year is as followed:

Objective Fulfilled Activity Date Collection and environmental experience Dillon State Park September 7 & 8 Collection and environmental experience Kelleys Island September 29 Environmental/Geologic education Orton Hall and ODNR at Alum Creek October 5 Collection and environmental experience Hinckley Hills November 2 Collection and environmental experience Bowling Green – France Stone Quarry November 23 Environmental/Geologic education Cleveland Museum of Natural History January 18 Collection and environmental experience Caesar Creek April 26 Assembly of projects Stratigraphic Profile Assembly Day May 4

Students will collect samples to complete their stratigraphic profiles at all sites. Each of the trips has a specific highlight (geologic features and strata age) that makes it appropriate for the R.O.C.K.S. program, but each has been chosen for its overall facilitation of teaching Ohio geology and environmental science. Outdoor trips will include hikes through the area with stops at points of interest and explanations provided by our advisors. The group will take a hike through Dillon State Park trip which will provide the opportunity to study Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, and Permian age rocks, such as the Black Hand sandstone. The trip will be an overnight that will include visits to see the Ohio flint deposits and explore the museum at Flint Ridge, as well as a trip to Wolf Run to study the Permian Age sandstones. The Kelleys Island trip will show the effects of the glaciers which played a crucial role in two-thirds of Ohio geology with its features including the glacial grooves and deposits. The club will tour Orton Hall and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources branch at Alum Creek to learn more about the geology and natural resources of Ohio. The Hinckley Hills trip provides an opportunity to study Mississippian Age rocks such as the Sharon Conglomerate during a hike through the park. The visit to France Stone Quarry at Bowling Green will include a tour to demonstrate Silurian Age geology, with the main features being the dolomites and limestones of the region. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is a trip that is suited for the winter months and will be yet another opportunity to foster understanding of Ohio geology, along with allowing students to see an actual stratigraphic profile. The Caesar Creek field trip will furnish a chance to study Ordovician geology with such items as fossiliferous limestone and brachiopods. Finally, May 4 is planned as a day for students who have participated in the R.O.C.K.S. program to complete the assembly of their stratigraphic profile boxes. 6. COLLABORATION: (10 points) How will other organizations be involved in this project?

The Orrville High School Earth Science Club will be the organization in charge of administering the R.O.C.K.S. program. The club has worked with organizations such as the Tri-County Solid Waste District to launch the white paper recycling program, and the City of Orrville to clean up and install trails in a wetland area near the high school. The club will continue collaboration with the R.O.C.K.S. program with such organizations as the Industrial Technology Department of the High School, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and other schools within the district and local area. The Industrial Technology Department of Orrville, which has worked with the Salvation Army to produce wooden toys for underprivileged children, will be asked to help with the construction of boxes for the stratigraphic profiles. The club has previously been invited to visit the ODNR branch at Alum Creek, and as this proved to be an excellent educational opportunity we have included the trip in the activities of the R.O.C.K.S. program. The club also plans to make the stratigraphic profiles produced by the R.O.C.K.S. program available to other schools within the district or other school districts for educational purposes. The instructor will also build a demonstration model of the stratigraphic profile, so in the event that all students would choose to keep theirs, the Earth Science Club would still have a profile available to loan out for demonstrations to all interested parties.

7. PROJECT RESULTS: (10 points) How will you determine the success of the project?

The success of the R.O.C.K.S. program will be first measured through the interest generated by the program, the level of participation, and the quality of the stratigraphic profiles produced by the students. In order to quantify the results and allow opportunity to review the goals and reach of the program, a pre- and post-participation survey will be conducted, allowing an assessment of student knowledge prior to and after the program, while also allowing students to provide feedback on their thoughts about the program. Teachers who borrow the stratigraphic profiles will be asked to report back on their usefulness as a teaching aid. The success of the program should be readily evident through these three avenues, and the feedback from the survey will provide a way to focus the program more toward the interests and needs of the students who are participating.

8. DISSEMINATION: (10 points) How will information and results be shared?

Information about the success of the project will be used by the advisors of the Earth Science Club to determine any changes that could be made to improve the program. The main opportunity for sharing results will be through the availability of the stratigraphic profiles created by the program to other schools within and outside of the district. Making these profiles available as a teaching aid will increase the awareness and interest in the program, along with enhancing educational opportunities available to teachers within the classroom. Information about the R.O.C.K.S. project, and the stratigraphic profiles will be made available on the Earth Science Club website. Teachers from other districts will be able to learn about uses for the stratigraphic profiles through the website, and information on how to obtain a profile from the Earth Science Club will also be posted there. 9. BUDGET: (15 points) Include in-kind services, match monies, personnel, space costs, equipment, consumable supplies, travel, telephone, other costs (explained) and total costs.

BUDGET SPREADSHEET OEEF FUNDING ESC Contribution

A. PERSONNEL 1. Salary or Wages 0 0 2. Benefits 0 0 3. Stipends 0 2000 4. Substitute Teachers 0 0

Subtotal 0 0

B. NON-PERSONNEL 1. Supplies 0 0 2. Equipment Textbook: Fossils of Ohio (15 @ $18 ea.) 180 0 Canvas Field Bags (30 @ $30 ea.) 900 0 Safety Goggles (30 @ $6 ea.) 180 0 Student Transits (11 @ $169 ea.) 1690 0 Brunton Instructional Transit (2 @ $212) 0 424 Needed for Stratigraphic Boxes: Plywood (6 4'x8' sheets @ $15 ea.) 150 0 Hinges (60 @ $0.50 ea.) 60 0 Latches (30 @ $0.50 ea.) 60 0 Wood Screws (1 box @ $7) 20 0 3. Printing 0 0 4. Other Transportation Vans 2 vans @ $50/day ea. (for 7 trips) 0 1600 Gasoline (for total of 7 trips) 0 1400 Kelleys Island ferry $10/person x 24 people 340 0 Admissions Cleveland Museum Of Natural Hist. 155 0 $4.50 x 22 students + $5 x 2 advisors Lodging Dillon State Park Cabins 6 @ $125 ea. 875 0 Meals 4 meals (Lunch, Dinner, Breakfast, Lunch) for overnight 0 680 @ $5/meal/person for 24 people

Subtotal 4610 6104

C. CONTRACTUAL 0 0

Subtotal 0 0

TOTAL EARTH SCIENCE CLUB FUNDING: $ 6,104.00 TOTAL OEEF FUNDING: $ 4,610.00 Budget Narrative:

OEEF funding for the R.O.C.K.S. project covers expenses related to the trips to be taken and the equipment which will be needed to facilitate studying the stratigraphy of Ohio in depth. Mr. James Duxbury, the official Earth Science Club advisor, receives a stipend from the school to advise the group. The Earth Science Club also has available volunteer advisors who will help by driving vans and supervising trips. No OEEF funding will be used for personnel. The textbook Fossils of Ohio (10 @ $18 each, $180 total) will be used to help students learn about any fossils found during explorations, and will also act as a rough field guide. The Earth Science Club currently has a set of canvas field bags which were purchased with club funds, but they have begun to deteriorate to the point where a project such as this would warrant their replacement. The field bags (30 @ $30 each, $900 total) would be used for carrying any samples found, and for the tools that can be used in the field, including the rock hammers, which the Earth Science Club currently has a set of and will be providing. Safety goggles (30 @ $6 each, $180 total) are needed to protect students while using rock hammers to find samples for their profiles. The Student Transits (10 @ $169 each, $1690) are a multipurpose tool which the students will be trained to use to find data such as the dip and strike of a rock plane, or the slope of a region. The Earth Science Club will purchase 2 Instructor Models with club funds (2 @ $212 each, $424 total), which the advisors will use to demonstrate the capabilities of the transits to the students. The supplies listed under Needed for Stratigraphic Boxes are those that will be used by the Industrial Technology Department to assemble the boxes in which the stratigraphy profiles will be created. The supplies include plywood (6 sheets @ $25 each, $150 total), hinges (30 pair @ $2/pair, $60 total), latches (30 pair @ $2/pair, $60 total), and wood screws (2 boxes @ $10 each, $20 total). Earth Science Club fundraiser monies will cover transportation costs to the sites including provision of vans for transportation (4 vans @ $50/day/van for 8 days, $1600 total) and gasoline ($50/van/trip for 7 trips, $1400 total). The cost of the ferry at Kelleys Island (30 students and 4 advisors @ $10 each, $340) will be paid for through OEEF funds. Admission costs to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (30 students @ $4.50 each, 4 advisors @ $5 each, $155 total) will also be funded by OEEF funds. The lodging costs of the R.O.C.K.S. program kickoff overnight event at Dillon State Park for 30 students and 4 advisors (7 cabins @ $125 each, $875 total) are to be funded with the OEEF grant. The Earth Science Club will pay for all meals (4 meals @ $5/meal/person for 30 students and 4 advisors, $680 total) on the overnight Dillon State Park trip. Finally, since the Earth Science Club is unique in its goal of providing environmental education opportunities to all interested students regardless of their financial circumstances, any unforeseen costs (i.e. greater than anticipated student interest, rising admissions costs, etc.) will be covered with Earth Science Club funds. Approximately 2/3 of the startup costs will be funded with OEEF funds, with 1/3 coming from Earth Science Club funds. In future years, since equipment will have already been purchased, the Earth Science Club will be able to fund all expenses related to the R.O.C.K.S. program.