Education Opportunities

BLOSSM is a geoscience outreach program which is placing 100 seismographs, called Raspberry Shakes, into K-16 educational institutions, and public learning spaces such as museums and libraries. Our goal is to promote integrated curriculum opportunities through the use of this educational technology, while expanding our seismic network.

We are currently in the Regional Rollout (phase 2) of a Three-Phase Rollout Plan. During the Pilot, we deployed 10 units. During Phase 2, the Regional Rollout, we will deploy an additional 30 units. During Phase 3, the Statewide Rollout, we will deploy the remaining 60 units.

We will support participants in BLOSSM through mini-workshops to provide time for teachers to work with one another, and to have time with our seismic analysts and curriculum experts.

If you're interested in being part of the BLOSSM project, you can complete the short application form here: http://bit.ly/BLOSSM. Please contact Molly Yunker with any questions!

This Rock, Mineral, and Fossil Collection (RMF) was generously provided to the Oklahoma Geological Survey by the Oklahoma Geological Foundation, whose mission is to further geoscience education efforts within Oklahoma.

The RMF Collection is meant to travel to schools, classrooms, museums, and public spaces to expose children of all ages to geology phenomena. The specimens are quite large (note the highlighter for scale in the center of the image above) and are meant to be handled. There's not a "No Touching" policy with this collection. Instead, we encourage touching, feeling, making observations, and asking questions.

I'd like to work together with educators of all types (scout leaders, homeschoolers, teachers, and informal educators, etc.) to develop a program, lesson, or curriculum to accompany the RMF Collection. This can be adapted to your students' needs/level/content.

If you'd like to request a visit from the Traveling RMF Collection to your classroom, please contact Molly Yunker. In addition, if you'd like to apply for a collection of your own from the Oklahoma Geological Foundation (OGF), you can fill out an application at their website. 

OGS Geologists can lead short programs to engage children and adults of all ages in Earth Science at libraries or in classrooms. We can read stories with STEM themes to children, organize rock, mineral, and fossil activities, and discuss issues relevant to Oklahoma. Contact Molly Yunker for more information.

The Oklahoma Geological Survey has setup tables at many different events in the state, including Gem & Mineral Shows, conferences, science outreach days at museums, STEM Summits, and more. If you'd like to have a table with information and/or activities hosted by the Oklahoma Geological Survey, please contact Molly Yunker.

We offer a 2-hour tour of the Sarkeys Energy Center (SEC) - an engaging and educational Geology Experience! We have developed a station-based tour, so we'll split your group up into four smaller groups, and each group will rotate through each of the four stations.

The four stations include:

• Augmented Reality Sandbox and Streamtable
  
• Rock & Mineral Display Cases and Scavenger Hunt
  
• Raspberry Shake Seismograph and Seismicity in Oklahoma
• Hands-on Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils

If you're interested in bringing a group for an education Geology Experience co-hosted by Pick & Hammer, and the Oklahoma Geological Survey, please contact Molly Yunker.

OPIC is a 192,000 square foot warehouse that holds core samples, well logs, reports, literature, and other resources about Oklahoma's petroleum exploration. In addition to these resources, OPIC houses a resource room with rock, mineral, and fossil specimens available for teachers and educators in Oklahoma. If you're interested in visiting OPIC to collect resources for your classroom, please contact Molly Yunker to setup an appointment.

The Oklahoma Geological Survey along with the University of Oklahoma have many Geoscientists that can visit your classroom (as of January 2021, virtual visits only) to chat with your students, or engage with students through a school-wide assembly (only certain scientists... inquire below)! If you're covering an Earth Science topic, or you're interested in exposing students to careers in the geosciences, please contact Molly Yunker to connect with any of the people below and setup a virtual visit. Available to grades K-12 and informal learning groups (libraries, scouts, homeschools, etc.).

We received funding from the Oklahoma Geological Foundation to assemble a traveling Earth Science library. This library consists of about 75 books for various age levels from 5-13 (K-8th grade), that will be delivered right to your classroom for up to three weeks. Ideally, the GeoBooks library will be delivered during the time that you are working on an Earth Science unit with your students. The library can serve as a wonderful reference, and can engage and inspire students to ask questions and explore new topics.

The GeoBooks Library travels around the state. If you're interested in reserving a time for the library to visit your classroom, please contact Molly Yunker.

We have received funding from the Oklahoma Geological Foundation to distribute starter rock collection kits to each student in your classroom! The collection consists of a baggie holding about 9 rock, mineral, and fossil specimens. The best part is your students will be able to keep their own collection. If you're interested, we can setup a visit to your classroom, work with the Rock, Mineral, and Fossil kit described above (large specimens for students to engage with), and then hand out the GeoKIDS collections for each student to explore and take home. We can work together to develop a short lesson to accompany this visit if you'd like, or you can develop your own activity! We can customize a visit to your classroom to fit your needs! Consider requesting a visit from the GeoBooks traveling library at the same time...

If you're interested in participating in GeoKIDS, please contact Molly Yunker.

If you've received a GeoKIDS kit and you're trying to identify the treasures in your collection, please see below!