Discovering the sea floor of Atlantic Ocean in Santa Maria island, Azores, Portugal.

One of the main challenges of practical geology teaching lies in the fact that this scientific area works with very broad temporal and spatial scales, which makes it difficult to observe natural geological processes in a laboratory context and can limit students learning (Agreiro, 2022). In this sense, and in line with the unifying theme of the conference, it is imperative to develop didactic proposals related to the dynamics of sea floor that can be used in practical geology lessons and/or as preparatory activities for a potential field trip, outside the classroom context.

Santa Maria Island, in Azores UNESCO Global Geopark, in Portugal, is one of the prime locations for the study of sea floor outcrops, particularly pillow lavas formed in a geotectonic context of a triple junction – Eurasia, Nubia, and North America – in a magmatic province generated by a hotspot or wetspot underlying the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

This work proposal is a contribution to promote practical geology activities in the classroom and/or optimize the preparation of an outdoor activity on Santa Maria Island, according to the practical work philosophy of Nir Orion (1993), which advocates the execution of pre-field trip activities (preparation unit) to minimize the so-called “novelty space”, meaning, the impact related to visiting an unknown territory, with many factors leading to distraction and loss of attention, particularly cognitive component, through laboratory experiences simulating natural phenomena that occur in the field (e.g., simulating the genesis of pillow lavas), and geographical component, with information about the geological context of the area to be visited.