Education on EARTH Magazine

Geologic Column: Newspeak for kids

Wed, 13 Feb 2019 14:52:35 -0500

Credit: Bruce Mars from Pexels

“Once upon a time, words began to vanish from the language of children. They disappeared so quietly that at first almost no one noticed — fading away like water on stone. The words were those that children used to name the natural world around them: acorn, adder, bluebell, bramble, conker — gone!” – Robert Macfarlane, "The Lost Words"

Comment: Why is it so hard to teach climate change?

Fri, 31 Aug 2018 14:49:30 -0400

Climate science education often falls through the cracks in K–12 curricula. Earth and environmental science classes, in which climate science is most likely to be taught, are not required in most states. Thus, the incentive to teach those classes is absent. Credit: ©American Geosciences Institute, 2015.

Climate change was in the national spotlight this past summer when The New York Times Magazine devoted its entire Aug. 5, 2018, issue — except for the beloved puzzle section — to Nathaniel Rich’s article “Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change.” As it happens, “Losing Earth” added a puzzle of its own. Late in his 30,000-word article, Rich wrote that he looked forward to the day when “the young will amass enough power to act” on climate change. But he neglected to ask whether they will have the knowledge to do so, in light of what is and isn’t being taught about the topic now.

Place-based education: Teaching geoscience in the context of location and culture

Mon, 02 Jul 2018 17:09:14 -0400

Arizona State University students participating in a place-based field trip near Round Rock in Arizona combined geological study with an exploration of indigenous and historic cultures of the Colorado Plateau. Credit: Steven Semken.

When geologist Kent Kirkby first joined the faculty in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Earth Sciences in 1994, he was assigned to teach a large, entry-level geoscience course that had last been revised in the 1970s. “While that revision had been very innovative for its time,” Kirkby says, “it was showing its age.” As he mulled options for redesigning the course, he learned through class surveys that less than 1 percent of the roughly 1,000 students who enrolled in it each year were considering a career related to earth science, and that it was also the last physical science class that more than three-quarters of the students intended to take. Given those statistics, “teaching the course as a traditional introductory science class made no sense,” he says.

Down to Earth With: Michael Novacek

Wed, 23 May 2018 16:41:16 -0400

When it comes to fossil hunting, Michael Novacek has just about seen it all. As a paleontologist, senior vice president and provost of science at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, Novacek has braved everything from Andean snowstorms to Yemeni bandits in his quest for fossils. Somewhere, he found time to write two books about his expeditions: “Dinosaurs of the Flaming Cliffs” (1996) and “Time Traveler” (2002). Novacek recently chatted with EARTH reporter Brian Fisher Johnson about his experiences.

Down to Earth With: Sharon Mosher

Wed, 23 May 2018 10:56:04 -0400

Sharon Mosher. Credit: Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin

Sharon Mosher was born with a rock in her hand, as her mom used to say. As a child in Illinois, she was fascinated by geology, conducting mineral tests on rocks in the chemistry lab her dad set up for her in their basement. She decided she wanted to be a geologist the moment she learned that’s what you call a person who studies rocks.

Fieldwork among the pixels: Virtual and augmented reality diversify geoscience education

Tue, 01 May 2018 10:51:05 -0400

A photosphere view of a glacial erratic featured in a virtual reality geology field trip to Columns of the Giants in the Sierra Nevada of California. Credit: Ryan Hollister.

by Sarah Derouin

Comment: Making the first (and last) geoscience class count

Mon, 11 Dec 2017 10:08:48 -0500

From the InTeGrate homepage (serc.carleton.edu/integrate), instructors can navigate to many earth science modules, from programs on water resources or coastal hazards to minerals or diversity. All are designed to bridge science and society. Credit: InTeGrate/Carleton College, Science Education Resource Center.

Imagine that no one had ever taught a general education geoscience course for college students, and that you were given the job of designing such a course from scratch. As you look around today, would your first reaction be, “We’re going to need to spend three or four weeks talking about rocks and minerals”? Or would you be more inclined to discuss the challenges of addressing how the natural processes that sustain the earth system as we know it today — and that support our global community — are changing before our eyes? Not to be glib about it, but while geoscience educators go about our routine of presenting basic facts and concepts, we may be missing an opportunity to engage our students in more compelling conversations involving our science.

Down to Earth With: Mountain biking geologist Kurt Refsnider

Wed, 25 Jan 2017 15:16:13 -0500

Growing up in Minnesota, Kurt Refsnider spent a lot of time exploring old clay and limestone quarries along the Minnesota River, where he collected marine fossils. While on a camping trip with his family at age 8, he visited the Burgess Shale in Banff, Canada, and learned about the exquisitely preserved soft-body fossils of Precambrian marine fauna. The experience initially made him want to become a paleontologist. But as he grew up, the glacial landscapes of the upper Midwest drew his attention and he decided to study geology instead.

Comment: High school earth and space science should be taught by geoscientists

Tue, 17 Jan 2017 14:11:14 -0500

public domain.

A recent survey of U.S. science teachers’ understanding, perspectives and teaching of climate change — an important earth and space science (ESS) standard included in the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) — revealed that teachers spend an average of only one to two hours per year teaching students about climate change. The survey study’s authors concluded that “[science] teachers may not be very knowledgeable about a wide range of evidence and how climate models work.” However, the authors did not distinguish between qualified ESS teachers and other teachers, like biology, physics or chemistry teachers who might be charged with teaching ESS topics. Other studies also noted that some teachers with biology degrees self-report not feeling prepared to teach climate change.

Benchmarks: April 22, 1995: GLOBE is launched

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 18:16:03 -0400

Over the last 20 years, GLOBE students have collected 130 million environmental observations, often without the use of sophisticated instruments. To calculate tree heights (left), students make and use a simple clinometer to measure the angle between the ground and the treetops. To measure clouds (right), students divide the sky into quadrants using their raised arms, then identify cloud types and estimate coverage in each quadrant. Credit: both: courtesy of The Globe Program/All Rights Reserved.

Studying the global environment requires collecting numerous detailed observations. And although it may seem today like we’re awash in such data, relevant observations — collected at the right time and place — are often unavailable. For example, scientists studying precipitation must rely on just a handful of sampling stations: All of the world’s raingages gathered together would only cover an area the size of two basketball courts.

Urban geology: An emerging discipline in an increasingly urbanized world

Mon, 08 Feb 2016 13:06:37 -0500

At Marshall's Beach south of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Franciscan mélange is exposed. During last year's annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, geologist Callan Bentley and others visited the site to photograph the rocks. Credit: Callan Bentley.

The mass urbanization of the human race is a relatively new phenomenon in the history of civilization. In 1900, when geology was maturing as a science, only 10 percent of the global population lived in urban settings; now, this proportion has surpassed 50 percent, fed by both overall population growth and rural-to-urban migration. And by 2030, it is expected to reach 60 percent. The United States reached 50 percent urbanization around 1930 and is now approaching 70 percent. The urban population of Canada, meanwhile, accounts for about 80 percent of the country’s people. Ten urban areas around the world now exceed 20 million people, with the Tokyo metropolitan area approaching 35 million — larger than the populations of most countries.

Geologic Column: Decades later, Mr. Keene's earth science class sticks with me

Tue, 29 Dec 2015 09:21:12 -0500

Staten Island's Curtis High School. Credit: Sweepditrack, CC BY-SA 3.0.

My earth science class at Staten Island’s Curtis High School in 1959 presented a dilemma for me: My teacher, Mr. Melvin Keene, had a great sense of humor and made the subject easy to understand, but he was also a neighbor and a friend of my dad’s.

Down to Earth With: Matt Kuchta

Tue, 27 Jan 2015 09:43:04 -0500

Credit: ©Matt Kuchta.

Matt Kuchta is the geology program at the University of Wisconsin at Stout (UW-Stout), located in Menomonie, Wis. It’s a young program: Kuchta is in just his second year as a tenure-track assistant professor, after working as an adjunct instructor at the undergraduate instruction-focused school for two years while pursuing a doctorate in geology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, which he received in 2009.

Down to Earth With: Kirk Johnson

Tue, 16 Dec 2014 10:32:02 -0500

In 1967, at a family picnic in Casper, Wyo., 6-year-old Kirk Johnson stumbled across a fossil that looked to him like an ancient rattlesnake tail (it turned out to be a brachiopod). Not long after, while hiking in his home state of Washington, he accidentally knocked over a piece of shale, fortuitously discovering a fossil leaf. The ensuing epiphany that he had a knack for finding fossil treasures led to what he now calls his “paleo obsession.”

Down to Earth With: Eric Riggs

Tue, 09 Dec 2014 13:19:18 -0500

Eric Riggs says he often tells students the story of how he got into geoscience as a cautionary tale. That may seem ironic given his current position as assistant dean for diversity and graduate student recruitment and development in Texas A&M University’s College of Geosciences. But before returning to school to earn a doctorate in mineral physics and, eventually, settling into geoscience education research, Riggs made forays into English literature, marketing and the printing business. “Don’t do it this way!” he says with a laugh. “It worked out well for me, but it was a long, twisted path.”

When science meets film at MIT

Tue, 04 Nov 2014 10:23:31 -0500

MIT students in the Experimental Study Group learn to shoot short educational videos, even using a green screen to include special effects. Credit: Christian Cardozo.

Across the Internet, science shows abound, such as “Crash Course,” “The Brain Scoop” and “Vsauce.” A good educational video is like watching a professional ballerina — if the dance is done well, it looks effortless. Of course, neither ballet nor film is actually easy, especially when the medium is meant to carry a message. A new class at MIT is helping students break down the steps and twirls of video and having them choreograph their own short educational films — with the goal of teaching them to better communicate, and deepen their own sense of the science, by explaining complex ideas like the Big Bang, the architecture of the Wheatstone Bridge or the chemistry of bread.

On the Web: Ka-pow! Superhero short films get kids thinking about climate change

Fri, 11 Jul 2014 15:36:44 -0400

The Green Ninja may sound like a spin-off of the “Power Rangers,” the live-action children’s television series featuring color-coded superheroes. But there’s a little less punch and a lot more thought going into this YouTube science show for kids.

Geologic Column: Beyond geology, field camps teach teamwork and inspire leadership

Tue, 24 Jun 2014 16:44:31 -0400

A tent camp in the Chisos Mountains in Texas offers a temporary home for students during a regional geology field course run by the College of William and Mary. Credit: Jessica Ball.

For undergraduate geology students, field camp is a rite of passage. And the importance of the experience, in terms of properly training and preparing geoscience students to become geoscience professionals, should not be underestimated. Over the years, the number of geoscience field camps has declined substantially. This is unfortunate, but we have reason to hope that more schools will again start offering field camps soon.

Beyond rocks for jocks: Elevating geoscience education

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 12:54:41 -0400

Credit: Copyright Shutterstock.com/Goodluz

When I was an undergraduate student, all liberal arts students were required to take a science course as a general education requirement. If I recall correctly, the science options were astronomy, biology, chemistry, physical geology and physics. The astronomy, chemistry and physics classes were highly quantitative, which frightened off many general education students. The alternatives of biology and physical geology tended to be more attractive because their core content was less rooted in high-level mathematics. Thus, the physical geology course was a favorite of athletes seeking to fulfill a general education requirement, and for this reason it was called, as it is at many schools, “Rocks for Jocks.”

Geologic Column: Assessing energy and mining workforce needs

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 10:41:54 -0400

Lisa A. Rossbacher Courtesy of Lisa A. Rossbacher

In his 1971 book, “Encounters with the Archdruid,” John McPhee quoted Charles Park, an economic geologist who worked at the U.S. Geological Survey and then Stanford University, who said, “People seldom stop to think that all these things — planes in the air, cars on the road, Sierra Club cups — once, somewhere, were rock. Our whole economy — our way of doing things, most of what we have, even our culture — rests on these things.” Although McPhee’s emphasis was on the balance between environmental protection and our societal need for raw materials, the book highlighted the fundamental importance of energy exploration and mining, an idea that implies still another significant message: Our society needs scientists, engineers and skilled laborers who can locate and extract raw materials and energy sources from the rocks beneath our feet in order to power our economy and our way of life.

Core skills in the geosciences: The geoblogosphere chimes in on what students need to know

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 10:17:27 -0400

Jessica Ball is working toward her Ph.D. in volcanology at SUNY Buffalo. Courtesy of Jessica Ball

Last April, I had a discussion with some of my fellow graduate students in the geology department at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York (SUNY Buffalo) about teaching. One topic raised by those of us working with senior undergraduates was the skills our students would need to have by the time they left the department. We realized that many students take winding paths on the way to finishing a major for various reasons, including that they transferred from another school, they switched majors, or they are double-majoring and have time conflicts. A winding path isn’t necessarily detrimental as long as the students come out of the process with a solid geoscience skillset. But what should that skillset include?

Blogging on EARTH: A letter from field camp

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 18:30:37 -0400

Bryce Mitsunaga at field camp in Montana. Bryce Mitsunaga

The 2013 University of Houston-YBRA field camp participants exploring glacial features atop the Beartooth Range. Bryce Mitsunaga

University of Houston-YBRA field camp, summer 2013. Bryce Mitsunaga

Learning the basics of mapping includes how to take a strike and dip. Bryce Mitsunaga

Bryce Mitsunaga, a recent graduate of Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., is currently attending field camp at the Yellowstone-Bighorn Research Association camp located in the Beartooth Mountain Range outside of Red Lodge, Mont. In honor of EARTH's August feature on field camps, Bryce wrote in with some reflections on his experiences so far.

Location, Location, Location

Fri, 19 Jul 2013 09:33:39 -0400

Although field camps based east of the Mississippi River do exist, and a handful of American schools run camps abroad in places like Ireland, Italy and parts of Africa, the vast majority of camps in the U.S. are still conducted out West. From the Black Hills and the Great Plains, across the Rockies and other mountain ranges, to the Desert Southwest, the western U.S. offers much in the way of beautifully exposed outcrops, distinctive landscapes and transects through long stretches of geologic time.
Naturally, every field camp director is partial to the plots of land to which he or she returns each year. Here’s what a few of them had to say about their particular field sites.

Home sweet home for field campers

Fri, 19 Jul 2013 09:27:16 -0400

A tent camp in the Chisos Mountains in Texas offers a temporary home for students during a regional geology field course run by the College of William and Mary. Jessica Ball

With a few exceptions — including available meal choices and entertainment options for when students have limited free time — accommodations at today’s field camps haven’t changed all that much, at least in the last few decades. Depending on the camp, however, lodging ranges from log cabins to college dorms to motels to the occasional traveling camps that still live and work out of “tent cities.”

Spotlight on UCORE projects

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:23:43 -0400

Some UCORE students have studied Mount St. Helens, which began erupting a new lava dome in 2004. The volcano is seen here in October 2004 from the Johnston Ridge Observatory. Gene Iwatsubo, U.S. Geological Survey

2010 UCORE fellow Jamee Burh with her poster about her project on episodic tremor and slip. Courtesy of Dean Livelybrooks

Symes (on ladder) and Burh (foreground) and former University of Oregon physics student Tamela Maciel install a tide gauge near Aberdeen, Wash., as part of an array to measure small water-level changes associated with episodic tremor and slip. Courtesy of Dean Livelybrooks

The National Science Foundation-funded Undergraduate Catalytic Outreach and Research Experience (UCORE) program ran from 2007 to 2012 and involved 132 students from six different community colleges in Oregon. During the five years of the UCORE program, groups of three to six community college students from each campus spent 10 weeks in the summer on the University of Oregon campus, working on projects alongside graduate students and faculty in chemistry, geological sciences and physics research groups. Listed below are some of the projects in which the students were involved.

The Syracuse University lava experiments

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 14:53:11 -0400

Pouring basaltic lava at Syracuse University's Comstock Art facility: Sheet-like, ropey pahoehoe flows over dry sand; infrared image of pahoehoe flow experiment with selected temperatures in degrees Celsius.

Pouring Lava

Melting a batch of the ancient basalt takes about four hours, but we hold the lava above its melting point for much longer to ensure that it is completely melted and to remove unwanted volatiles such as water. The lava is then poured at temperatures of 1,100 to 1,350 degrees Celsius, comparable to eruption temperatures of natural lava. We monitor it with a spot calorimeter and a Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera, the same instrument conventionally used at lava flows in the field.

Do–it–yourself lava flows: Science, art and education in the Syracuse University Lava Project

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:56:15 -0400

Picture this: You’re walking across the tree-lined quad of Syracuse University, amid brick and stone buildings, when you happen upon a crowd of people. Crowds on the quad aren’t unusual, but this crowd is unusually diverse — students, professors and even parents with kids. You move a little closer and smell something odd: a blend of sulfur and marshmallows. Then you see it — molten lava pouring down the slope of a parking lot.

School of rock: Educating educators at sea

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:39:51 -0400

Most of the School of Rock expeditions are aboard the IODP's ship, the JOIDES Resolution, pictured here at dock in British Columbia. John Van Hoesen

School of Rock participant (and author) John Van Hoesen records smear slide data. Sabreena Kasbati, Aquarium of the Pacific, USA & IODP

Many things come to mind when you hear the words “School of Rock”: a bad Jack Black flick, the middle school band you were in, the guitar school down the street from you, some pun about geology … yes, all are likely candidates. But the one I’m thinking of probably didn’t cross your mind. The School of Rock I had the privilege to attend is a professional development opportunity for educators to spend a week to 10 days at sea, learning about ocean drilling, how science is conducted on a yawing ship, and how to be better science teachers.

Voices: Defending science: The link between creationism and climate change

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:24:04 -0400

What do creationists and climate change deniers have in common? Over the past few years, this riddle has been on our minds a lot at the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit that has fought for more than a quarter-century to defend the teaching of evolution in the public schools. Now, we’re expanding to defend the teaching of climate change — and with it, science in general.

Voices: Log off and get outside again

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:51:09 -0500

I began this column while meandering across the West just after Labor Day last year. We drove from Telluride, Colo., to Zion National Park in Utah, to Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border, and finally to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Voices: What does "The Nation's Report Card" tell us about science education?

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:51:09 -0500

In President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech in January, he emphasized the need for more scientists, mathematicians and engineers in the U.S. workforce. But the latest national assessment of science education in the U.S. appears to offer little hope for our next generation of scientists. Still, the results provide some insight on the state of science education in this country — information that we can use to improve our schools.

Creationism creeps into mainstream geology

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Field trip 409 at Red Rock Canyon Open Space near Colorado Springs, Colo. Steven Newton

Steve Austin, chair of the geology department at the Institute for Creation Research, was one of the field trip leaders. Steven Newton

It was easy to miss the part where the field trip leader said the outcrop formed during Noah’s Flood. After all, “During these catastrophic flood flows, turbulent, hyperconcentrated suspensions were observed to transform laminar mudflows” sounds like a reasonable description of alluvial fan processes. And “massive marine transgression” sounds scientific enough. But when creationist geologists use those phrases, they take on a very different meaning.

Earth science rocks at the USA Science & Engineering Festival

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

USA Science & Engineering Festival

A jazz-improvising robot; an Einstein impersonator; Van de Graaff generators that make your hair stand on end: These were just some of the attractions at the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival, which included an expo held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 23 and 24, 2010.This celebration of science, where NASA astronauts mingled with awestruck kids and families competed in robotic soccer tournaments, featured 1,500 hands-on activities and attracted 500,000 visitors.

Geology 101: Reading the story in the rocks

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

David Harwood’s field geology course gives future teachers an introduction to several of geology’s most fundamental principles, including the stratigraphic basics described by Nicholas Steno in 1669. Go to the head of the class with this quick primer.

Google searching for the world's next top scientists

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

The old baking soda volcano probably won't get you very close to the blue ribbon in Google's Global Science Fair 2011. The fair, a first for Google, will judge and showcase the work of thousands of students ages 13 to 18 from more than 120 countries in 11 categories, including earth and environmental sciences and energy and space. The aim is to spark creativity and scientific exploration among students.

Highlights of 2011: Jobs, jobs everywhere, but not enough people to fill them

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Geologists working on Mount St. Helens in Washington. Courtesy USGS Cascade Volcano Observatory, ESW Image Bank

This has been a vintage year for the health of the geoscience workforce in the United States. Overall enrollments and degrees in geoscience programs increased 5 to 10 percent — as they’ve been doing for the past four years — this year reaching nearly 25,000 undergraduate majors and 10,000 graduate students across the country. Employment opportunities for geoscientists continue to be widespread, with more jobs available than people to fill them.

Science and soccer: They're both child's play

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Claire studies water samples in the UCSC laboratory. Jim Metzner

Collecting runoff samples from a turf field... 2009 by Deanna Hodgin

...and from a grass field. 2009 by Deanna Hodgin

It’s late in the afternoon, and by now, 9-year-old Claire Dworsky has already answered questions like mine many times over. But, when I approach the crowd of people standing by her poster at the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) annual meeting in San Francisco, Calif., she jumps up from her chair and politely gives me her full attention. I ask her to explain her project, and she launches into her explanation, never turning to look at the poster behind her for backup, or at the adults nearby who are watching her with pride. Dressed in a red soccer uniform and fidgeting just a bit — it has been a long day — she outlines why she chose this project, which examines the water quality of artificial turf and natural grass soccer fields.

Student scientists cast a long shadow

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Nate Burgess

Andy Olander explains his poster to scientists at the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting in December 2008. Turtle Haste

Shannon Hamilton (left) and Meagan Richards measure sun shadows. Turtle Haste

Scientists in Antarctica measure sun shadows cast by the pole marking the South Pole. Charlie Kaminski

Last December, in the enormous, fluorescent-lit hall of San Francisco’s Moscone Center South, thousands of geophysicists and geologists milled through dozens of aisles of poster displays, chatting enthusiastically about the latest in geophysical research at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Within each aisle, people clustered around the more intriguing displays, trying to hear more about a given researcher’s work. At the center of one such group, commanding his own audience, was the youngest scientist ever to present research at an AGU conference.

Surviving field school: Better than reality TV

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Emily points to the embedded dinosaur fossil she discovered in an outcrop of the Morrison Formation. Clay Farris Naff

A closer look at Emily's fossil. Clay Farris Naff

In David Harwood's field course for future teachers, students learn the basics of geology. Kyle Thompson

At a road cut, David (foreground) and Ben ponder the 'layer cakes' above them. Kyle Thompson

David (middle) leads the discussion that solves the Mystery Rock puzzle. Aaron (right) and Chelsea also help. Kyle Thompson

David Harwood’s geology field course for future teachers is not a network reality show — but it should be. The three-week course has all the humor, drama, exacting challenges and bleepable moments of “Survivor.” But in contrast to the staged setups of TV “reality” shows, Geology 160 offers billions of years’ worth of authentic geological history that students see, taste and scrape from under their fingernails.

Texas Board of Education votes to strike amendment questioning evolution

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Blogging on EARTH

Evolution will still be taught in Texas. After months of proposed amendments, statements by special interest groups and lengthy debate, the Texas Board of Education voted 8-7 today to strike language from its curriculum that required students to “analyze and evaluate the sufficiency or insufficiency” of common ancestry, a major tenant of the theory of evolution.

The Coconino's starring role in the creationist-geologist battle

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Contact of the Toroweap Formation (top) and the Coconino Sandstone (bottom) in the Grand Canyon. Steven Newton

Arizona’s Coconino Sandstone — a deposit seen in the Grand Canyon and elsewhere — plays a central role in the creationist argument that the upper rocks of the Grand Canyon were deposited during Noah’s Flood. In fact, the posters presented by students and faculty of Cedarville University at the 2010 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in Denver, Colo., pushed a consistent narrative: The Coconino did not form in an eolian (wind-blown) environment. Why is this so important? If the Coconino is eolian, it means the Flood did not happen.