New lab activity helps students understand concepts

Brent Tripp teaches physical science, biology, environmental science and senior science at the Harrison Career Center in Cadiz, Ohio. Attending the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education workshop for teachers gave him great ideas and materials to use in his classroom.

Tripp’s students did the porosity and permeability lab, placing water on four different sponges and describing their relative permeability and porosity. The varying rates at which water went through the sponges led to good discussions about the topic, Tripp said. “The activity helped them answer the questions at a very high level. My past experience has shown me that this is a difficult concept for students to comprehend. The lab that I used in the past was not as good as this one. The great thing about this new lab is the easy setup and the students’ understanding. I wanted an easy, hands-on way to show this challenging topic and this lab did that. This is a permanent addition to my curriculum!”

Tripp said he appreciated the workshop’s hands-on activities and current information for teaching geology concepts and natural resources to his classes. “I would highly recommend this conference to all teachers across subject lines. I have already told others about it. I learned more at this workshop than many others I’ve attended.”