G’day!

Welcome to GEOetc. My name is Gary Lewis and I am delighted to share the wonderful world of geoscience with you.

I have been involved in geoscience (or Earth science) since the 1980’s and want to share my passion by running field experiences, developing and sharing teaching resources, delving deeper into the theories or just explaining our planet for everyone to understand.

Whether you are an educator, student, rock hound or just love the great outdoors, I am sure that you will live and learn about it a little more with me.

Join one of our Field Adventures

Want to be informed of our new trip opportunities and updates for any or all our adventures via email? Then join our Field Adventures email list. Click here.

2020

Discover Hawaii’s Active Volcanoes – Hawaii Trip January 2020

Gary Lewis, GEOetc, leads..... Discover Hawaii's Active Volcanoes 2020 A trip for STEM & Geography Educators, students, and geology enthusiasts. Pre-service teachers and College Students are welcome on this trip. 5-12 January 2020 Get on the email interest list for this ...
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Discover Australia – Geology and landforms. July 2020

Gary Lewis, GEOetc, leads..... Discover Australia 2020 A trip for STEM & Geography Teachers, students, and all geology enthusiasts. Pre-service teachers and College Students are welcome on this trip. 23 July - 2 August 2020 Get on the email interest list ...
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The Volcanoes of Italy – July 2020

Gary Lewis, GEOetc and Chris Spencer, TravelingGeologist, lead... The Volcanoes of Italy A trip for Earth Science & Geography Teachers from around the world Teachers, Pre-service teachers, College Students, and their friends are welcome on this trip. July 4-13, 2020 We ...
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2021

Discover Iceland – Fire and Ice on a Mid-Ocean Ridge

Discover Iceland - Fire and Ice on a Mid-Ocean Ridge July 2021 (Dates to be announced) TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT - Join our email list for more information. This 7-day (6 night) field trip to Iceland highlights the amazing geology of this Mid-Ocean ...
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Earth Science Snippets

Why I don’t start Earth science by teaching rock and mineral identification

For many educators who are not Earth science trained, and many who are, they flounder when trying to work out ...
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Understanding Polar Reversals

Understanding polar reversals helps us to understand an important piece of evidence for Plate Tectonics. When molten rock cools, some ...
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Divergent Plate Boundaries

One of the most amazing places on the Earth's crust is where two massive continental plates are moving apart. Almost ...
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Volcanoes as a STEM teaching tool

Trying to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in the classroom can often seem disjointed. Having a STEM teaching ...
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Geologist Field Gear – the six “H” essentials!

What are the essential pieces of field gear for a geologist - or in fact any geology enthusiast? What ...
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Olivine – one of simplest rock-forming minerals

Olivine is one of the simplest silicate minerals that can be found in igneous rocks on our planet. All the ...
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Conference Posters – tips to make an impact

So you have been successful in having your topic selected as one of the conference posters. Good job! Presenting a ...
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Silicates – a simple guide to the Earth’s rock forming minerals

While high school students are taught about chemistry using simple examples of inorganic and organic substances, very few are exposed ...
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Geoscientists need to talk to the public

Too often scientists ignore talking to the public. They would rather spend all their “communication” time and energy talking about ...
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Geological hammer – a beginners guide to buying your “forever hammer”

A geological hammer is often seen as an essential part of any field geologists equipment. Often called rock picks ...
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Cinder Cones – a unique volcanic feature.

Cinder cones are volcanic features that are found at volcanic sites where there has been some form of fountaining activity. Fire Fountains ...
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Evidence for Plate Tectonics

The evidence for Plate Tectonics is very conclusive. It is very well supported theory, and while scientific debate continues about ...
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Boundaries – how the crustal plates interact

The Earth's plates don't just sit there. They move and interact at their boundaries - and that is what makes ...
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Plates – understanding the tectonic jigsaw pieces.

The Earth's crust is broken up into around seventeen major pieces that we call tectonic plates. These plates form ...
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The Earth’s Crust – a simple way to view it.

The Earth's crust - that outermost rocky layer of our planet - can be daunting to understand. To start ...
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Field Boots – an essential piece of equipment.

If you are a geoscientist you are going to need field boots. Even if you are being a "geoscientist" just ...
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Field Notes – what students need to learn to do.

Taking solid field notes is a skill that many students are not taught. The days of a geologist's life recorded ...
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There’s mica in my toaster!

Mica has been used for many purposes over time and even in my short lifetime I have seen it in ...
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Space Geeks Timeline

Understanding time is something that geoscientists are just great at doing. But we get a little sick of people not understanding ...
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Lava flows – can you outrun a lava flow?

Most people believe that one of the major hazards of volcanoes are lava flows. They are surprised to find ...
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Diamonds are NOT a girl’s best friend

Diamonds are NOT a girl's best friend - or so I tell my wife. And here is why. All minerals ...
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Field trips – they are critical for teachers!

Field trips are critical. Learning Earth science in the field is as important as learning to cook in a kitchen ...
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Spot the cleavage – a characteristic often misunderstood.

Cleavage is an important diagnostic feature of minerals. However it is often misunderstood. And more often mistaken for another mineral ...
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I love a dike – my geology hook.

One of the reasons I fell in love with geology was finding evidence of igneous activity in the form of ...
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Not all that glitters is gold!

Gold - the metal on which many empires have grown (and withered) is a strange metal indeed. In nature it ...
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EarthCache – Let the Earth be your teacher!

An EarthCache is a special place that you can visit using GPS technology to learn more about the geology of ...
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How hard is mineral hardness?

How hard is a mineral? Geoscientists still use mineral hardness as a way to identify an unknown mineral. This ...
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Using a Circular Data Calendar

We are all looking at ways to collect and display data with our students. Most of the time the data ...
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The strange thing about Basalt.

Basalt. It's the fine grained igneous rock that makes up the sea floor and sometimes spews forth from volcanoes on ...
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How long is deep time?

Deep Time is the term used by scientists to describe the vast amount of time that has passed since the ...
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What happened in the Permian?

The Permian period of time started around 299 million years ago when the Earth was in the deep freeze of ...
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Welcome to GEOetc

G'day, Howdy and Hi, My name is Gary Lewis and I am an enthusiastic and passionate geoscientist. I grew up ...
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