Our introductory geoscience laboratory, Earth Materials and Processes, serves over 120 students per year, one fifth of the Trinity student body, most of whom are non-science majors. This laboratory currently includes no field work or instrumental component. We will enhance this course with an inquiry-based, instrumentally supported, quantitative field experience. This experience will include a refraction seismic survey and a real-time differential GPS survey of a fault-bounded basin near campus containing a flood control dam. A round-robin schedule will ensure that each student has a hands-on experience with both surveys, and will also allow the incorporation of a computer based mapping exercise, using an existing computer facility, into this introductory laboratory. We will acquire an exploration seismograph, GPS receiver and laptop computer to implement this plan. Using the same equipment, we will integrate and enhance the field components of upper division elective courses in Geophysics, Geomorphology, Hydrology, and, GIS and Remote Sensing with joint, extended field projects. The newly created Government Canyon State Natural Area will be used as the common field site for these courses. This area, which has been set aside as an important geologic area for teaching and research, is located astride the boundary between the catchment zone and the recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer, the sole-source water supply for San Antonio, Texas. Additional benefits of these activities include the enhancement of field experiences in other geoscience courses and selected courses in biology and physics, and expanded undergraduate research opportunities for students from Trinity and affiliated institutions. The results will be disseminated by presentations at national meetings and workshops. Resulting materials and student reports will be available on our department Web site which will also host a Web based GIS for the Government Canyon State Natural Area.
