For Teachers

The Utah Geological Survey offers teaching kits, field trip itineraries, multimedia for the classroom, teacher workshops, and more. These resources are available to Utah teachers and are grade-specific when possible, matching the current Utah State Science Core Curriculum standards.

Teacher Resources

TEACHING KITS
UGS teaching kits available for checkout include Landforms; Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils; Ice Age; Dinosaurs; and more!
EARTH SCIENCE WEEK
Earth Science Week activities at the Utah Geological Survey usually happen during the second week of October and include activities for students like gold panning, rock talk, stream table, earthquake demonstrations, and the paleo prep lab.
MULTIMEDIA & DOWNLOADS
Interactive maps, geology videos, and downloadable powerpoints.

Speakers for the Classroom

Utah Geological AssociationUGA has a classroom speaker program for all grade levels. Contact Zach Anderson at 801-581-6636 or zachanderson@utah.gov.

The Division of Emergency ManagementFor earthquake hazards, risks, safety, and preparedness class speakers, contact DEM at 801-538-3400.

Utah Mining AssociationUtah Mining Association provides 4th grade talks for their Mining Ambassador Program.

Other Classroom Speaker Resources:

For rocks & minerals: contact R.O.C.K. club (Rockhounder’s Outreach for Community Knowledge) at 801-808-8421 or rockhoundersock@yahoo.com.

Other organizations such as Thanksgiving Point and the Natural History Museum of Utah have classroom speaker programs that are free or charge a fee.

Field Trip Resources

Friends of Great Salt LakeFriends of Great Salt Lake offers Lakeside Learning field trips, educational resources, and summer programs.

Hutchings Museum InstituteThe Hutchings Museum in Lehi offers a range of museum experiences and outreach programs.

Timpanogos CaveThe National Park Service offers guided field trips, virtual field trips, and classroom visits.

Discovery GatewayThe Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum offers STEAM-guided field trips, virtual field trips and hands-on activities.

Clark PlanetariumThe Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake County offers guided field trips and IMAX shows.

Natural History Museum of UtahThe Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake County offers self-guided field trips, junior science academy classes, and other resources.

Teacher Workshops

The UGS participates in selected teacher inservices and workshops. Contact Mark Milligan at 801-537-3326 or markmilligan@utah.gov for further information.

Earth Science Education (ESE)

Earth Science Education (ESE) is a resource for teachers to improve their earth science teaching methods in all grade levels. They have many courses across a variety of topics. Visit their website or contact Genevieve Atwood at 801-538-1896 or genevieveatwood@comcast.net.

Natural History Museum of Utah

The Natural History Museum of Utah offers a variety of professional development opportunities to engage in science and engineering practices from the perspective of your students, working side-by-side with scientists to deepen your content knowledge. All Natural History Museum of Utah educator workshops are free for Utah public and charter school educators, and relicensure points or USBE credit will be given for each workshop attended.

Utah Science Teachers Association

Utah Science Teachers Association provides science endorsements for teachers. You can check the calendar to view upcoming courses or search through the different courses they offer.

American Geosciences Institute (AGI)

American Geosciences Institute (AGI) Geoscience Online Learning Initiative: With many geoscience programs now needing to quickly shift to online teaching, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) wants to make sure all faculty are aware of the 29 modules in the free-to-take Geoscience Online Learning Initiative (GOLI) platform, which is a joint effort of AGI, AIPG, SEPM, and ASBOG. GOLI courses range in duration from 1 to 10 hours in length, addressing a range of geoscience topics and skills from writing in the geosciences to geoethics to advanced environmental geochemistry, among others. These modules are ready to go and available for your students right now.

Teacher Awards

Listed below are science teacher awards with cash incentives that are open for nominations. If you would like to add your organization’s award to this list, contact Mackenzie Cope at mcope@utah.gov.

Teacher of the Year – Utah Geological Association (UGA)
Teacher of the Year – American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)