Bringing geology and early science literacy to preschool classrooms with storytime and show & tell: A collaboration between a librarian and a geologist

Abstract

A two-person team, a STEM librarian with a background in geology, and a freelance geologist, share a long history of doing geology outreach events for the public, including at a natural history museum and the public library. With time comes experience in discovering what works and what doesn’t for drop-in events or table sessions with the public, including very young audiences. However, visiting a school classroom was new; recently the team visited two preschools, one in the local school district and in a church, with students aged 3-6. All sessions had a story about rocks followed by a show and tell of rock, mineral and fossil specimens. The kids and teachers absolutely loved it, and have either already made a repeat visit, or have plans to. This is success in many ways. First, it fosters lifelong learning and curiosity, as it introduces rocks and fossils they might see in a museum, and not all kids have the opportunity to go to museums. In these visits, they get hands-on experiences and much of the show and tell is driven by their questions or observations. Second, it builds good will in the community to have the university library visit a very young audience, and is valuable especially to smaller preschools who don’t have the opportunity to bring in special guests. For the outreach team, it’s beneficial to stretch communication skills, and to talk about concepts and things to a general audience, and to kids.