Geoscience students Kjerstin Enger Hansson and Kristin Buer Søndenå are studying the new stone collection given to the school by Statoil.

“It’s much more fun to see what iron pyrite for instance actually looks like, instead of just seeing pictures as we did before. Now we can pick up the different stones and get the feel of them. That will make the different types of rock easier to understand and remember,” says Kjerstin Enger Hansson (17), a geosciences student at Elvebakken upper secondary school in Oslo.

The stone collection is part of the Geo Programme, Statoil’s initiative for geosciences in upper secondary schools. The company is giving NOK 10.8 million over five years to boost the subject. As well as the stone collections, the money will be used for teaching materials and course packs for geosciences teachers.

A practical subject

Enger Hansson and classmate Kristin Buer Søndenå (17) think the best thing about geosciences is that it isn’t just theoretical like other science subjects.

“We learn about earthquakes, glaciers, volcanoes and natural disasters. How the world we live on actually works. Actually I think it’s strange it wasn’t a separate subject long ago. Because it’s about such important things,” says Buer Søndenå.

Steinsamlingen som blir gitt til klassene består av flere sett steiner slik at elevene kan arbeide i mindre grupper med steinprøvene.

Geosciences was first introduced as a subject in autumn 2007. Today it is offered by more than 90 of the 300 upper secondary schools.

Kristin Buer Søndenå and Kjerstin Enger Hansson chose geosciences because the compulsory first year geography gave them a taste for more.

“We wanted to go into the whole thing in more depth. The subject has been much more interesting than we thought. You don’t need to be a genius in physics to understand it; this is more practical,” say the girls.
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The geosciences students believe it is important to make more people aware of this, because most people don’t know enough about what the subject is actually about. Themselves, they are considering taking the subject further.

Start-up help for a new subject

Geosciences teacher Tonje Blom at Elvebakken upper secondary school is very pleased the school has its own stone collection.

“This is a great help in teaching. I also value the technical help and support from the Centre for Science Education,” says Blom.

Follow up and technical help from the Centre for Science Education is particularly important as geosciences is still quite new as a school subject. Few of the subject teachers are geologists and guidance for teachers has therefore been made a priority.

Merethe Frøyland of the Norwegian Centre for Science Education and Statoil’s head of exploration technology Bård Krokan were both on hand when the stone collection was handed over to the geosciences students at Elvebakken upper secondary school.

Bård Krokan forteller hvordan olje og gass blir dannet til geologielever ved Elvebakken videregående skole.

“It is important for recruitment to our industry that the subject enters the school curriculum at an early level. Having geosciences as a subject in its own right at upper secondary level is therefore a milestone. Our focus has been that support for teachers and students should be given on their own terms. That’s why working with the Centre for Science Education is so important,” says Bård Krokan.

Krokan took the time to talk about the subject with the students, who had many suggestions and questions. He explained how Statoil uses geology in its exploration work.

“We have an exciting job, it’s a bit like a treasure hunt every day,” is how he explained it.


Text and photo: Helga Hovland, Statoil