The significance of geologic time: Cultural, educational, and economic frameworks

Abstract

The discovery of geologic time revolutionized scientific thinking and led to the development of the modern Earth sciences. Less appreciated, however, is the fact that geologic time has had far-reaching cultural and societal consequences that go well beyond its founding influence upon the geosciences. This essay summarizes the literature describing the difficulties students encounter in understanding deep time, provides an overview of the historical development and cultural relevance of deep time, and suggests ways to increase students' understanding of the significance of geologic time. AbstractThe discovery of geologic time revolutionized scientific thinking and led to the development of the modern Earth sciences. Less appreciated, however, is the fact that geologic time has had far-reaching cultural and societal consequences that go well beyond its founding influence upon the geosciences. This essay summarizes the literature describing the difficulties students encounter in understanding deep time, provides an overview of the historical development and cultural relevance of deep time, and suggests ways to increase students' understanding of the significance of geologic time.

Por que ensinar tempo geológico na educação básica?

“…Para Cervato & Frodeman (2012), o grande desafio do ensino de Tempo Geológico é achar novas maneiras de transmitir uma concepção ampla e rica do tema para os estudantes através do currículo. Assim, segundo os pesquisadores, três abordagens -econômica, política e cultural -podem motivar e aproximar os estudantes de uma concepção mais ampla e adequada do tempo geológico.…”

“…No entanto, esforços têm sido realizados na tentativa de atingir o problema da compreensão de do conhecimento científico e considerada parte da herança cultural da humanidade, E-an Zen (2001) afirmou que a noção de tempo geológico é relevante o suficiente para que todos, não só geólogos, devam conhecê-la. Nesse sentido, Cervato & Frodeman (2012) alegam que apesar da importância da noção de tempo geológico para a evolução do pensamento científico, pouca atenção tem sido dispensada aos impactos cultural e social deste conceito, que ultrapassam sua implicação sobre as geociências. Para estes autores, só é possível compreender adequadamente os desafios econômicos e ambientais da atualidade -como o encerramento da era do petróleo, as prováveis futuras alterações climáticas e a perda progressiva de biodiversidade, incorporando a perspectiva do tempo profundo.…”

Quantifying the Level of Inquiry in a Reformed Introductory Geology Lab Course

“…The last lab activity of the semester focuses on Geologic Time, a concept often hard for students to grasp (Dodick and Orion, 2003;Libarkin et al, 2007;Cervato and Frodeman, 2012). This lab was originally centered on understanding relative and absolute dating methods, having students apply these methods to date cartoon drawings and photographs of stratigraphic sections.…”

Finding the time: Exploring a new perspective on students’ perceptions of cosmological time and efforts to improve temporal frameworks in astronomy

“…Time is a central and fundamental component of describing how a system functions, but its importance stretches far beyond science. Cervato and Frodeman [22] highlight the cultural, economic, religious, and political relevance of time in addressing the looming environmental crises that require a perspective and appreciate of immense timescales. Temporal knowledge has been cited as a significant component of scientific literacy [23,24] and listed in science education standards from K-12 [25][26][27] through the collegiate level [28]; yet, it is often overlooked in the classroom, or expected to become obvious within the context of the scientific content being taught.…”