Promoting Geosciences Education for Sustainability by educational project

The teaching of geology in French programs is devoted to, what is called SVT (e.g. life and earth sciences). With the evolution of the curricula, the pedagogical approach of geosciences has changed.The teaching of geosciences is anchored in concrete themes that are part of the students’ world, and in the challenges they’ll face in their future.

In middle school, we approach meteorological, climatic, volcanic and seismic phenomena from the prism of risk. We are talking about the exploitation of resources in connection with energies, soils in connection with agroecology. We are talking about the transformation of landscapes due to erosion and human action.

In high school, whatever the specialties chosen, the question of climate change is linked to renewable energies, carbon cycle, "pollution".The best way to involve students in these issues is to make them actors in educational projects.

Let me develop here some examples of educational projects carried out around different areas of activity:

• The evolution of landscapes, risk and resource management

I organized several field trips for SVT teachers and students in collaboration with the local university. Dakar offers an urban environment that at first sight is unfavorable to geological exploration because the pace of construction there is intense. The geological bedrock is mostly sedimentary. Ages ranging from Late Cretaceous to Miocene. Volcanic episodes can be identified. This exploration of the Cape Verde Peninsula is part of the general framework of the evolution of the MSGBC sedimentary basin, its geodynamic history and the evolution of a passive margin linked to the opening of the Atlantic.

The outing gives you the opportunity to observe several outcrops and to illustrate with relevance the notions of risks related to erosion and the nature of the bedrock.

• Ocean biodiversity and geoscience

In September 2022; the schooner TARA made a stopover in Dakar. Our students discovered the methods of ocean exploration. I then based much of the educational progression of my middle school classes on this simple question: Why does oceans matter? The students were able to link global warming to its impact on marine life. Meeting and interviewing local fishermen as well as scientists working on these issues enriched their knowledge. Participation in scientific competitions as an apprentice reporter or a budding ambassador were an opportunity to observe, experiment and communicate widely on this theme.

• Management of environments, soils and geoscience

The food resource is a major local issue. Appropriate cultivation techniques make it possible to preserve the soil and therefore the cultivable area. The formation of soils, their maintenance or their erosion is an important issue related to the teaching of geoscience. Our students have won the “Alimenterre” (=Food/Earth) competition prize for two consecutive years by producing video capsules on these topics.

• Conclusion

Geoscience allow students to understand the major challenges humanity is facing in the 21st century, those of the environment, sustainable development, resource and risk management.

Global warming and its implications can be very worrying for our students, a project-based pedagogy on local and concrete objects allows students to feel like an actor and not a victim of the changes to come.