GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF GREECE 16 th International Congress

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF GREECE 16 th International Congress

 

October 17-19, 2022
Patras, Greece

TUESDAY 18 OCTOBER 2022

 

Educational Proposal For Geology Through Walk Trails In The Urban Environment Of Palaio Faliron In Athens, Greece

 

 

 

16:00

 

S9a: Geoheritage,

Geoconservation,

Geoeducation and

Geoethics

 

 

G. Kontokostas1, A. Antonarakou1, H. Drinia1, Ch. Vasilatos1, S. Lozios1,

(1) National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, Panepistimiopolis, Zografos, Greece, geokon@geol.uoa.gr

 

 

Background and Objectives

Educational Geological walk trails in the urban environment are proposed as a successful interdisciplinary teaching approach to Geosciences in secondary education. Geological walk trail through Palaio Faliro, using techniques entailed in the scientific/educational methodology by inquiry, contributes in forming citizens who are active, responsible and aware of contemporary environmental issues, such as natural disaster management and natural resource exploitation (Kontokostas et al. 2020).

The designed geological walk trail is a practical endorsement in which the students will use fieldwork skills to identify a variety of rocks and geological materials in the built environment, as well as learn about geological features in the area.

The research area is located between Palaio Faliron and Alimos-Kalamaki, nearby Pikrodafni stream, along the coastline from Athens to Vouliagmeni. In this area the pre-Miocene basement of the HP metamorphic units of the lower plate and the un- or weakly metamorphosed units of the upper plate are covered by Neogene marine formations and Quaternary deposits (Papanikaloaou et al. 1999, & Papanikaolaou et al. 2004).

 

Research Methodology

This work follows the research steps outlined by inquiry–based learning: a) trigger of interest, b) reminding of basic knowledge/formulation of hypotheses, c) experimentation/trials, d) formulation of conclusions, e) applications/generalization according to learning (Bakopoulou et al. 2016). The designed walk trail includes: Faliron War Cemetery - Estuary of Pikrodafni stream - Riverbed of Pikrodafni (figure 1). We conducted our educational research with an experimental group of students of secondary school of Attica located near geolocially interesting areas.

 

Results and Conclusions

The findings of our study are compared to a control group of students from the same secondary school in Attica as the experimental group. There is a remarkable improvement in students’ comprehension, creativity, cooperation and critical thinking. They learned about the Pikrodafni, they recognized white marble of Pendeli, green Tinos’ marble, grey marble from Thasos, granite, Botticino limestone and fossiliferous limestone. The most intriguing aspect of the study was when the students realized that the complexity of the natural world is the result of the combinations of few simple procedures.

 

 

Keywords: Urban Environment, Educational Geological Walk Trails, field lessons, Educational Research.