Reviving Earth science: A call for early education reform

Dear Editors,

I read with interest the concerns regarding the decline in undergraduate Earth Science enrolments (e.g. Geoscientist, Winter 2023). I believe the problem starts much earlier than A-level.

As Head of Chemistry in an all-through (Primary and Secondary) school, I can say that Earth science is most definitely in the curriculum, however it’s so segmented that children can’t piece it all together.

Classic geology is virtually absent; rocks are covered once in Year 3 (students aged 7-8 years) and only once again in Year 7 (students aged 11-12 years). In Key Stage 4 (students aged 14-16 years) chemistry, mineral extraction is linked to redox reactions and the reactivity series whilst the chapter on inorganic chemistry kicks off with crude oil. Topics such as evolution and ecology, and seismology are covered in biology and physics, respectively. The GCSE science content is so vast that it is often divided between two or three teachers, therefore it is not easy to provide a consistent narrative. Let’s not forget about the elements of Earth science that are navigated in geography!

The topic with greatest coverage is of course climate change. It is present throughout all the Key Stages with the focus on human-made climate change. This comes with the inference that the extractive industries are polluting and therefore, bad. Children tend to have a very strong moral compass and are very conscious of environmental and societal issues – something the mining/oil industries have a rather poor historical record for. So why would they consider reading for a degree in a subject whose career paths, they are told, destroy the planet?

How can educators address this? I argue that the answer to increasing enrolment at university level has to start much sooner, so that children receive an unambiguous and balanced Earth science education.  For this to work, non-specialist Earth science teachers need the tools to deliver a balanced curriculum. This could take the form of Continuing Professional Development for non-specialists, more industry-linked teaching and careers resources, greater earth science representation within STEM organisations, and so on. There is plenty of room here for the Society, universities and industry to get involved!

Dr Natasha Henwood MGeol, PhD, PGCE, FGS

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}