UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For the second year in a row, fourth graders in the State College Area School District have been learning about the earth sciences with the help of geosciences experts in the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS).
These students are learning about plate tectonics, erosion, fossilization and sea-level changes in the classroom through lesson plans their teachers produce with the help of Penn State faculty members and graduate students. Even at this early age, they are already beginning to better understand the world around them and how it came to be, and how it continues to change.
After classroom exercises led by fourth grade teachers district-wide, they head to the EMS Museum & Art Gallery, a visual playground that turns core concepts into moments of real-world and lasting discovery.