In the Beginning

So today we found out that with our Communicating Earth Sciences module, lead by Professor Iain Stewart, we have to do an online blog. I have never done a blog before, so we'll see how this goes! This blog is going to be about anything Geology related that I see, find or do, so as a fourth year Geologist, hopefully there will be a lot to write about.
The Communicating Earth Sciences module will hopefully show us how to help others to understand what Earth Sciences is really about. I think it's quite good that instead of just learning about Geology, we can now find out how to teach others about it too.
Along with finding out about our blog today, we also were plunged into the University campus with a clipboard, pen, paper and high-viz jacket, and told to ask people what they thought of when they heard the word Geology. This was absolutely terrifying for me! I'm quite shy and I find it hard to go up to people and try and get something out of them. I thought everyone was going to look at me like I was mad, or like I was trying to sell them something!
I soon got in the swing of things, and found it easier and easier to go up to people. Actually getting an answer from them was still quite tricky, as most people didn't have a clue! Of the 42 words that were given to me, 13 of them were the word rock. There were a few fossils, minerals, mountains etc, and a few less expected ones, including boredom (I don't see how anyone can say that about Geology!) and Dante's Peak! Only one person said Professor Iain Stewart, and that happened to be Professor Iain Stewart! I'm not sure that was quite what he was wanting!
The results were quite interesting, as it shows just how little people actually know about Geology, and could, for the most part, only say the word rock. Hopefully soon we'll know how to teach people about Geology so that they can have a greater knowledge of the subject.