Development of the curriculum resources on earth sciences in HongKong

Abstract

In Hong Kong, Earth Sciences are not a regular subject of the secondary school education. The aim of this project is to build up the students’ curiosity, prompting them to explore, investigate and learning more about Earth Science, ultimately attaining a more detailed understanding of where they live: the Earth. .To this end, a set of curriculum supporting materials, including fieldtrip planning, supplementary materials pack and learning outcomes, has been designed in consult with science curriculum co-ordinators, to facilitate both student learning and teaching of Earth Science-related Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) science subjects. Hong Kong Geopark represents a fantastic resource as a “natural science laboratory”, it is an ideal place for students to observe the real processes which are related to the current curriculums in their studies in secondary schools. Ma Shi Chau, one of the geo-sites in the Geopark, was selected as a destination of the fieldwork route in this project,as it provides an easily accessible opportunity to directly observe part of the Geopark’s superb geological landforms, and discover how their formation relates to fundamental principles of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, learned in the Science curriculum of the HKDSE. The set of the curriculum supporting materials was targeted especially for senior secondary students who are studying for the HKDSE in any Hong Kong traditional schools.