Former geologist and high school science teacher Suzy Urbaniak is helping to fire the imaginations of a new generation of geologists to join the dwindling ranks of the profession at the Kent Street Senior High School in Perth.

Urbaniak is one of a few dedicated teachers in five Western Australian high schools trying to reverse the alarming decline of young people entering the earth science professions in recent years. She said the number of students studying geology at the school is set to increase from 10 year 11 students this year to a new crop of 14 year 11s next year. The year 11 students are continuing their geology studies in year 12 under the new earth science curriculum being introduced in 2007.

Urbaniak said she is passionate about geology and wanted to share her passion with students and had been able to set up a geology course with the assistance of the school’s principal, deputy principal and science department. “They said we could start the course provided we had enough students that were interested in geology”, she said.

Not surprisingly, the main challenge in getting students interested was increasing the low level of positive awareness that exists throughout much of mainstream society about the profession, and the industry itself. A good place to start was highlighting the potential salaries and career opportunities that are available.

“I told them they could earn good money and become exposed to different cultures, different ways of life and different experiences”, she said. “The other good thing about geology is that it gives you a good base to diversify into other fields when you are older. So it was about creating that awareness for our youth and saying hey, you’re in one of the richest states in the world with good opportunities.”

One of the key components of the course that has grabbed the students’ imagination has been a six-day field trip that put the study of geology into a whole new perspective. “As soon as they came back from the field trip, their whole concept about everything changed”, Urbaniak said.

“Their application in the classroom increased because they were able to visualise the theory and put it into practice and they matured as well. They had a greater purpose, a direction, after the field trip that was a real bonus.” The students visited mines and geological formations including 250 million-year-old coal seams in Mingenew, 400 million-year-old sandstone sequences in Murchison Gorge, and looked for fossils at Red Bluff near Kalbarri this year.

Next year there are plans for a year 11 class to go back to the Perth Basin. The year 12 class is heading down to the Ravensthorpe and Bremer Bay region.

Urbaniak has been rapt with the success of the geology course so far. “It’s been better than I thought it would be”, she said. “I walk into the classroom and from how I’ve seen the kids from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, they’re motivated, they’re enthused about their learning and they have an interest in geology.”

But getting the message out to other schools, and to get other teachers motivated to teach geology, or earth science, is going to be a long, hard slog. And that’s where Urbaniak’s background as a geologist has been instrumental in the success of her programme, so far.

“A lot of teachers are probably a bit reluctant to teach it because they are not as confident in the science”, she said. But that’s where ESWA’s plan to provide geoscientists as mentors for teachers could be crucial to getting more courses started in Western Australia. Or they could do what Urbaniak did and become teachers themselves.

As well having the teachers with the passion to teach geology, there also needs to be solid support from the school administration and a demonstrated demand from the students who want to learn about geology.

Four students that PESA News spoke with have enjoyed the course so far after Urbaniak opened their eyes to the potential that the industry can offer them.

Denzyl Moncrieff said he knew the name of a few rocks at the start of the year, but that was about it, and he thought a TEE course about rocks sounded interesting. The highlight for young Moncrieff, and all the other students, was the field trip. “Getting out in the field and having a look around at a few rocks and going to a few mines and stuff was pretty good, instead of learning about it on the blackboard all the time”, he said.

Jacob Hopkins knew a bit more about rocks and geology after taking part in the Petroleum Club’s schools programme and decided to do the TEE course with a bit of persuasion from Urbaniak. And again, the field trip appeared to be the clincher for Hopkins. “Just the whole idea of getting out there and doing more practical work was good”, he said.

Bryden Smith thought geology would be good. “It is better than what I thought it would be,” he said. “The practical stuff is more fun because we also do practical in class. It’s not just writing down notes off the board all the time.”

Mark Bingley just likes smashing rocks. “Oh yeah, it’s fun”, he said. “My dad grew up in Kalgoorlie and became a geo in the super pit and he took me there once and I saw the blasting and I said ‘I’m there’.”

The students said there was a bit of interest in the geology course from other year 11 students, mainly because of the fun and adventure they had on the camp.

Click on image to enlarge

Kent Street Senior High School science teacher Suzy Urbaniak with some of her geology students: Adam Vilaca, Yasinta Situmorany, Jasmin Dale, Zac Price, (back left to right) Mark Bingley, Bryden Smith, Denzyl Moncrieff and Jacob Hopkins at the launch of Earth Sciences Western Australia recently.