GEOSCIENCE LESSON FOR SCHOOL TEACHERSIS RESULT OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RESEARCH

Editor's Note: For a classroom demonstration of the "soda bottle" exercise or to set up an interview with Dr. Thomas L. McGehee, please call Mary Daniel in the Office of Public Affairs at (512) 593-2138.

(KINGSVILLE, February 26, 1997) -- Creation of a popular series of geoscience lesson plans for 3-12 grade earth science teachers and an easily-understood "soda bottle hydrology" demonstration technique for classrooms is one result of summer research work for the Department of Energy (DOE) by Dr. Thomas L. McGehee, associate professor of geosciences at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

"School children can actually see groundwater and contaminants infiltrating the soil with this simple hands-on activity," said McGehee. "The exercise helps children to understand, for example, how dumping used auto oil in the backyard can seep into ground waters and pollute water resources."

Each summer for the past five years, McGehee and A&M-Kingsville graduate and undergraduate students have traveled to Oak Ridge, Tenn. to work on environmental cleanup projects for the DOE. Their studies and research provided important geoscience data which often influenced DOE projects. The summer work gave A&M-Kingsville environmental engineering students hands-on experience that amplified classroom lectures and spawned new case histories about environmental cleanup that McGehee incorporated into his courses at A&M-Kingsville.

The soda bottle demonstration, which McGehee refers to as a visual, manipulative exercise, was the collaborative result of McGehee and Terence Cavannaugh, a Florida public school teacher who was another DOE participant. The soda bottle hydrology exercise is accessible on the Internet at http:\\www.coedu.usf.edu\cavanau\sodabottle\bottle.htm .

McGehee was profiled prominently in a December 1996 report, "Strength in Diversity," published by Lockheed Martin Corp., who manages the U.S. Department of Energy's three primary Oak Ridge facilities. The geoscience associate professor represented A&M-Kingsville, one of 19 minority institutions that partnered with DOE to study environmental cleanup.

McGehee's tasks included recommending remedies for stabilizing a radioactive dump in Colorado and developing a geochemical data base for a national laboratory in California.

"While consulting in Oak Ridge, he (McGehee) initiated evening classes in hydrogeology and groundwater modeling for students, faculty, and DOE professionals collaborating on the cleanup projects, " said the magazine article. The publication said the mission of the program was to help solve environmental problems but also to improve educational and professional opportunities for minorities.

The environmental education brochure that resulted from McGehee's work describes how to conduct the classroom demonstration. It is available through the U.S. Department of Energy's Environmental Management (EM) Information Office (EM-40.3).

-TAMUK-
- Mary Daniel