Sneaking mathematical concepts through the back door of the introductory geology classroom

Students who are taking introductory geology courses only to fulfill a scie nce requirement often cite the absence of math as a factor in their decisio n to take geology rather than chemistry, physics, or astronomy. Typically t hese students have poor high school backgrounds in math and science, and fe el much more comfortable with a course that is perceived as a descriptive s cience rather than a quantitative one. In many introductory geology classro oms, unfortunately, this student perception is a true reflection of the way their course is being taught. Any overt introduction of mathematical conce pts, therefore, is likely to be met with widespread resistance. Recent nati onal initiatives in science education have emphasized the integration of co ncepts from mathematics as part of an interdisciplinary problem-solving app roach to science. However, simply introducing mathematical formulae and plu gging in prescribed numbers to get a predetermined answer does not meet thi s need. Mathematical concepts must be slipped in covertly, as geologically based steps in the problem-solving process, in such a way that a geological ly relevant answer may be obtained without students ever realizing that the y were working a math problem. The key to successfully integrating mathemat ical concepts into geology courses, without alienating students, is to emph asize deriving geologically significant results as opposed to calculating t hem. On a conceptual level, numerical estimates derived through sound mathe matical reasoning often provide equally valid and much more palatable resul ts that an insistence on precise answers with a certain number of significa nt figures. For students who likely will never take another math or science course, it is critical, from a scientific literacy standpoint, to graduall y and painlessly bring them to an understanding that geology is indeed a qu antitative science.