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.
Don’t miss a thing! Join our email list.
As we all negotiate our world with this virus, we are working hard to keep folks safe and provide them with activities that they can use in their classrooms and remotely with students. We have stepped up our podcast and activity development schedules so that we provide you with new materials each week. Please stay safe and we all hope we can return to some level of normality as soon as possible.
We are also working hard to ensure all our programs are inclusive. It is so very important to us to make sure everything thing we do is open and available to all educators, and we embrace diversity of all kinds. We support the efforts to see positive real change around the world.

Come join other Earth science teachers in an informal chat over a virtual coffee/tea/drink as we support each other and share ideas during this crazy period of the COVID-19.
SESSIONS ARE EVERY FRIDAY EVENING (USA time).
But we love to chat to anyone around the globe!
Click here for more information and to join the community
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.
2021
Discover Iceland - Fire and Ice on a Mid-Ocean Ridge 10 - 16 July 2021 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 Ridge ...
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Gary Lewis, GEOetc, leads..... Discover Australia 2021 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 2021 Get on the email interest ...
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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. June 23- July 2, ...
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2022
Gary Lewis, GEOetc, leads..... Discover Hawaii's Active Volcanoes 16-22 January 2022 Trips for STEM & Geography Educators and friends. Pre-service teachers and College Students are welcome on this trip. Get on the email interest list for this trip: Please note ...
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Geoaware, (Gary Lewis of GEOetc), leads..... Geocache on Hawaii's Active Volcanoes 2022 A trip for geocachers from around the globe. The trip is open for people 18 years and older. 23-29 January 2022 Get on the email interest list for ...
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Gary Lewis, GEOetc, leads..... Discover Hawaii's Active Volcanoes 3-9 July 2022 Trips for STEM & Geography Educators and friends. Pre-service teachers and College Students are welcome on this trip. Get on the email interest list for this trip: Please note ...
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Geology of the United Kingdom The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, England and the NW Highlands Geopark, Scotland 18-28 July 2022 Registration is open - see below. Join our interest list. Click here. This eleven-day (10 night) field experience will ...
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Often the misconception people have is that lava is the most deadly thing about an erupting volcano! But this is ...
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Plate Tectonic cycles have been happening on Earth as we know it today - with all its features - for ...
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This is an activity where students listen to a 10-minute podcast on Weathering (Podcast is here) and then use what ...
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I use mineral and rock collection cards with all my samples - even ones that are still sitting in plastic ...
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In the 1920's a Serbian geophysicist and astronomer called Milutin Milankovitch suggested that long term variations in how the Earth ...
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We are currently dealing with changes in the way we communicate with each and our students due to the COVID-19 ...
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One of the most dramatic geological features found around our planet is columnar jointing formed from the cooling of molten ...
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Traditionally, when we talk about the layers of our planet we talk about the inner core, outer core, mantle, and ...
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When you just start off exploring the wonders of minerals, working out mineral identification can seem a daunting task. It ...
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So you need to buy a for the geologist in your life? Are you struggling to find something that will ...
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So you want to run a field trip? I have been leading field trips for over 30 years, and have ...
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Just some of the photos from our 2019 Iceland trips. Come join us in Iceland 2021 More details here ...
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I have spent a lot of time measuring the weathering rates of marble gravestones. During my studies, I have discovered ...
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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 helps us to understand an important piece of evidence for Plate Tectonics. When molten rock cools, some ...
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One of the most amazing places on the Earth's is where two massive tectonic plates are moving apart. Almost 99% ...
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Trying to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in the classroom can often seem disjointed. Having a STEM teaching ...
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What are the essential pieces of field gear for a geologist - or in fact any geology enthusiast? What ...
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Olivine is one of the simplest silicate minerals that can be found in igneous rocks on our planet. All the ...
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So you have been successful in having your topic selected as one of the conference posters. Good job! Presenting a ...
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While high school students are taught about chemistry using simple examples of inorganic and organic substances, very few are exposed ...
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Too often scientists ignore talking to the public. They would rather spend all their “communication” time and energy talking about ...
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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 are volcanic features that are found at volcanic sites where there has been some form of fountaining activity. Fire Fountains ...
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The evidence for Plate Tectonics is very conclusive. It is a very well supported theory, and while scientific debate continues ...
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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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The Earth's rocky outerlayer (the lithosphere) is broken up into around seventeen major pieces that we call tectonic plates. ...
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The Earth's crust - that outermost rocky layer of our planet - can be daunting to understand. To start ...
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If you are a geoscientist you are going to need field boots. Even if you are being a "geoscientist" just ...
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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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Mica has been used for many purposes over time and even in my short lifetime I have seen it in ...
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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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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 - or so I tell my wife. And here is why. All minerals ...
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Field trips are critical. Learning Earth science in the field is as important as learning to cook in a kitchen ...
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Cleavage is an important diagnostic feature of minerals. However it is often misunderstood. And more often mistaken for another mineral ...
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One of the reasons I fell in love with geology was finding evidence of igneous activity in the form of ...
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Gold - the metal on which many empires have grown (and withered) is a strange metal indeed. In nature it ...
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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 a mineral? Geoscientists still use mineral hardness as a way to identify an unknown mineral. This ...
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We are all looking at ways to collect and display data with our students. Most of the time the data ...
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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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Deep Time is the term used by scientists to describe the vast amount of time that has passed since the ...
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The Permian period of time started around 299 million years ago when the Earth was in the deep freeze of ...
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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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