Teaching Geosciences with open data resources: The Mediterranean Sea

Geoscience teachers should employ active teaching strategies in their class as they have been shown to improve student learning. Students’ performance is enhanced when they can assess their understanding with a variety of activities (Freeman et al., 2011, 2014). Geoscience teachers should encourage the introduction of online components and open data resources (i.e. computational models and simulations, virtual fieldtrips, games/activities) to support geoscience teaching which increases students' ability to visualize and understand complex geologic structures, features, and spatial relationships. One of these open data resources that offers a vast variety of information on the Mediterranean Sea is the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). EMODnet is the European Commission (EC) in situ marine data service of the EC Directorate-General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (EC DG MARE) and offers a data layers catalogue within the European Atlas of the Seas. Therefore, the European Atlas of the Seas displays numerous data layers and thematic portals such as Bathymetry, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Human Activities, Physics and Seabed habitats among others.The European Atlas of the Seas and the EMODnet thematic portals have been employed in teaching students in Junior High School about the Mediterranean Sea. The students are arranged in teams and guided through activities in worksheets to access the European Atlas of the Seas and discuss about the Physical Geography of the Mediterranean area (i.e. location, major peninsulas, islands, coastlines). Then, they are directed to access the Bathymetry map of the sea floor and discuss about the morphology and depth of the sea compared to other European seas. With the help of the Tectonic lines map, in the Geology thematic portal, the students are asked to identify and consider the consequences of the movement of the tectonic plates in the lives of the people who live in the Mediterranean area (earthquakes, volcanoes). The students can then be engaged in activities that lead to a deeper understanding of the characteristics of the countries that border the Mediterranean Sea, discuss about the climate and vegetation, find the openings to other water bodies (seas, oceans) and justify the appearance of major ancient civilizations located around the Mediterranean. Thus, a multidisciplinary approach of the topic can be introduced, engaging in activities and discussion about: mediterranean nutrition, climate, Mythology, History, music and even Marine Biology (fish, seagrass meadows), sea temperature and oxygen, water quality and pollution according to the students’ interests and needs. In general, geoscience educators should incorporate computational models and open data resources in their teaching strategies as students learn better when they are actively engaged in a variety of activities and teamwork instead of traditional teaching methods.  Freeman, S., Haak, D., Wenderoth, M.P., (2011). Increased course structure improves performance in introductory biology. CBE Life Sci Educ., 10(2), 175-186.Freeman, S., Eddy, S.L., McDonough, M., Smith, M.K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., Wenderoth, M.P., (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 111 (23), 8410-8415.https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en/emodnet-data-layers-catalogue-within-european-atlas-seas