Article from Corpus Christi Caller Times:


Geologist: Show students other lands

Kaffie is first school out of 200 to receive map from local group

Rachel Denny Clow, Caller-Times
Published: October 14, 2006



Owen Hopkins presents a map to students at Kaffie Middle School.



Owen teaches students how to read a geological time and terrain map.
As geologist Owen Hopkins walks through some of the bare halls of Kaffie Middle School, he envisions those white walls turned vibrant by geological maps that could inform students as they pass by them every day. The dream began to take shape Friday for Hopkins, president of the Corpus Christi Geological Society, as he delivered such a map to the school.

Students gathered round an atrium and learned how to read a geological time and terrain map. They discovered that over time land is continuing to change. That is just one concept Hopkins and fellow members of the society hope the maps will teach students. "We need more scientists and geologists," Hopkins said. "I didn't even hear the word geology until I was a sophomore in college. We need to plant the seeds at younger ages." Kaffie was the first middle school in the Corpus Christi Independent School District to receive a map, which arrived just in time for the conclusion of Earth Science Week. Eventually, the geological society plans to give one map to every school in the Coastal Bend with fifth- and sixth-grade students, about 200 schools. At a cost of $150 per map per school, the total cost could be about $30,000. At a recent meeting of geologists, Hopkins spoke about the importance of the maps and raised about $8,000 in donations. Some of the costs will be offset by the Don Boyd Continuing Education Fund, which honors the memory of a local geologist. In addition to the framed maps, teachers get an unframed map and a teaching guide.

Owen Hopkins, president of the Corpus Christi Geological Society, shows Kaffie Middle School student Neville Elliott the school's new geological map. The society is donating framed maps to about 200 schools in the Coastal Bend.

Credit: Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times
Owen Hopkins, president of the Corpus Christi Geological Society, talks with Kaffie Middle School students about the new donated geological map.

Copyright (c) 2006 Corpus Christi Caller-Times
 

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