Creating Deep Time Diaries.(creative journaling in science education)

Byline: Vicky Jordan and Mark Barnes

Students love a good story. We all do. That's why incorporating literary fiction that parallels teaching goals and standards can be so effective. In the interdisciplinary, thematic six-week unit described here, we use the fictional book The Deep Time Diaries, by Gary Raham, to explore topics in paleontology, Earth science, and creative journaling. Wellington Junior High is fortunate to have scientist/author Gary Raham living in our community. He comes to our school as an educational consultant, leading student workshops in paleontology, creative writing, and scientific illustration techniques. Many communities have similar resources, as there are authors and illustrators in every state who are willing to make classroom visits. (Go to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrator's website, www.scbwi.org, for information about authors in your community.) Use the information provided here to build a similar unit for your curriculum or to serve as a template for using local talent to enrich and merge teaching goals across several academic areas.

The concept

The Deep Time Diaries consists of a sequence of fictional diary entries by 10-year-old Neesha and 14-year-old Jon Olifee, siblings who share the usual combination of love and rivalry. Elements of voice and sensory detail abound in the book, and the characters have qualities that middle school students relate to easily. For example, students do not often forget the analogy of relative dating using layers of dirty laundry in the closet. The diaries relate the adventures of the Olifee family when they are hijacked on a journey 800 million years into Earth's past. The book is illustrated with sketches and full-color art in the style of a naturalist's journal.

Information at the end of each section provides background, maps, and references to help both students and teachers learn more about the science facts on which the book is based. We saw the potential for using the book to address both Colorado English and science standards for eighth-grade students. Combined with a visit to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and several author presentations, we believed the unit would broaden student experience and provide them with inspiration from a writer/illustrator living in their own community. After six years of development, new eighth-grade students look forward to the unit each year. Five out of eight middle schools in our school district now use the unit.

Inquiry-based labs reinforce the book's science content. Students perform the labs to become familiar with the concepts, then read the relevant sections of the book. The labs address topics such as the age of the Earth, relative versus absolute dating techniques, the process of fossilization, the significance of fossils to the study of Earth history and evolution, critical thinking, and rock types and their cycling over time. English assignments address various aspects of creative writing, including figurative language, character development, the vocabulary of various scientific disciplines, sensory details, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. The authentic assessment for the unit-students' own deep time diaries (see Figure 1)-also involves sharpening research and speaking skills and learning to make effective computerized presentations. The author's visits reinforce content in both areas and allow students to see the creative process exemplified by the author's personal experience in researching, writing, and …