IESTA Newsletter
Spring 2004
Letter from the President
Hello Membership, present and past. For those of you who have let your membership lapse, that's a decision you should revisit. We want and need your support!
Our annual summer field workshop took place this past July near Lowell, Idaho. We studied the geology and geologic hazards of the Clearwater area. Subjects included small and large-scale landslides and the glaciations of the terrain near Big Fog Mountain. The hike up toward that peak was absolutely breathtaking. The rocks, the rivers and the people at class were all wonderful to be around. This year's T-shirt tells it all! Thank you to Mike Emory, Judy Walling and Terry Kuroda for helping put that together.
Part of our task was to put together a geologic presentation that was given over to the USFS for possible use at a newly constructed visitor center in the valley dealing with the Lewis and Clark expedition. It was real stuff, real information, and real science.
This year's upcoming workshop will be held July 11-16, 2004. We will be working on the geology and geologic hazards of Long Valley. Our camp will be near Cascade, Idaho at a campground called Snowbank. That campground, as of Jan. 9, is under 5 feet of snow. In July, it will probably be 104° F and there will be no snow, and we might very well wish we had some.
Thank you to the Idaho Geologic Survey, the Idaho Bureau of Disaster Service, the National Energy Foundation, and the Idaho Mining Association.
Please visit our web site at the Idaho Geological Survey for class information and application forms.
Randy Fiscus, President, IESTA
Fall Awards
Two IESTA awards, Exemplary Teacher of Earth Science and Outstanding Supporter of Earth Science Education, were presented at this year's ISTA conference in Idaho Falls. The 2004 Exemplary Teacher of Earth Science award went to Edna Iverson who has taught Earth Science at Sandpoint High School for many years and has been actively involved in helping create the new State Standards and assessments now being implemented in Idaho. The Outstanding Supporter of Earth Science Education award was given jointly to the Idaho Mining Association and National Energy Foundation for their efforts in supporting the IESTA Summer Workshop program and the popular Out of the Rock program used by many teachers here in Idaho.
This year, we will again be asking for nominations for the same two awards. You will find two nomination forms elsewhere on this site (http://www.idahogeology.org/IESTA/nominations.htm) that can be used to nominate a deserving candidate. Please complete the form(s) and email them to Jim Cash at jimsity@msn.com or you can send them by "snail mail" to the following address: Jim Cash, 415 N. Blaine, Moscow, Idaho 83843. We would like to get nominations in by the end of April so that we have time to put together an electronic ballot. All current members should have this ballot sent to them by early May. We are hoping to have all of the voting completed by mid-May so that we can avoid that end-of-the-year-off-the-chart-blood-pressure rush of late May/early June.
New for the IESTA Database
How would you like to find a wellspring of lesson plans that are tied to both the new Idaho State standards and/or the ISAT's? With your help, we can make it happen. At this year's winter IESTA meeting, we explored the idea of creating a file that would be accessible to Idaho teachers that would contain Earth Science related lesson plans. If you have a lesson plan for any of the many disciplines under the Earth Science umbrella email them to Jim Cash at the following address: jimisty@msn.com. Please follow the guidelines listed below with any of your submissions: 1) Have the document formatted in Word. 2) Tie the lesson to either the Idaho Standards or the ISAT. 3) Any pictures that are relevant to the lesson should be reduced to a jpeg file and placed into Word (please do not include pictures of students in the process of doing the activity as there are some legal hoops that we need to jump through to display them). Once lessons begin to roll in, they will be organized by discipline (i.e. seismology, weathering/erosion, meteorology, astronomy, etc.) and then placed on the IESTA web site.
It was also decided at the meeting that another folder containing images of Idaho features useful for teaching Earth Science might also be of value for our teachers. If you have digital images from Idaho that you feel others may find useful, email them to Mike Emory at memory@sd271.k12.id.us. To facilitate the organization of such data, please follow the format guidelines listed below: 1) Reduce the image to a jpeg and place it in a Word document. 2) Title the picture and place a small caption below it. 3) Include the location (GPS data if available), date taken, and the photographer. Together, we can make this a wonderful addition to our web site.
Summer Workshop 2004
Each year, the IESTA, in conjunction with the Idaho Geologic Survey, National Energy Foundation, Idaho Mining Association, and Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services, helps sponsor a summer field workshop to help teachers of Idaho earth science become more familiar with Idaho's varied geology and how it impacts people. The course is designed for secondary and elementary teachers. Family members are welcome at the camp. The 2004 class will be held July 11-16 at Snowbank Campground which is located along the shores of Cascade Reservoir. Participants are encouraged to bring rock or mineral samples to donate for the rock raffle (a fund raising event held each year at both the summer workshop and the ISTA Fall Conference). Two evening barbecues will be donated by the IESTA for participants and their families. Registration forms are available at www.idahogeology.org/FieldWorkshops/LongValley/registrationform.htm. Completed forms need to be returned to IGS as soon as possible to reserve a spot for the upcoming workshop. Participants can sign up for one or two University of Idaho credits as well.
Summer Workshop Scholarship
The Idaho Geological Survey has established a workshop scholarship in memory of Dan Weisz. Dan, a member of the IGS Staff, assisted with the Summer Workshop for several years lost his battle with heart problems on Dec 2, 2003. Recipients will receive a $100 award to help defray costs associated with attending the 2004 Earth Science education workshop at Cascade Lake. Two Idaho teachers will be selected at random from the list of participants registered for credit. Teachers must be enrolled for the workshop by May 15, 2004 to be eligible.
IESTA Membership
The Earth Science Teachers Association has developed strong relationships with the Idaho Geologic Survey, Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services, Idaho Mining Association, and National Energy Foundation which has benefited its membership in many ways. Their contributions of time, materials, and financial support have helped our membership grow academically by supporting an active summer workshop program and by making materials and lesson plan ideas available for classroom use. Please encourage colleagues who are not currently members or members who have let their membership lapse to the IESTA web site www.idahogeology.org/IESTA/Memberships.htm and print the form directly from the site. Have them fill it out and mail them to Jim Cash, 415 N. Blaine, Moscow, Idaho 83843. Please have them make the checks payable to IESTA.
