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GeoTrips: Every Rock Tells a Story

A Real World Protocol  ·  Field-Based STEM  ·  Julian Thomson  ·  Years 5–13  ·  Field Geology
GeoTrips is a nationwide network of documented geological sites — rock outcrops, landforms, and fossil locations — accessible to any teacher in New Zealand. Each site includes photographs, plain-language geological background, and practical directions. This protocol shows how to take any GeoTrips site and run it as a Real World Ready Layer 1 experience: an authentic encounter with the real world that students bring back to the classroom and extend with AI as a thinking partner.
Example site: Waipatiki Beach, Hawke's Bay Orange-grey limestone blocks fallen from the cliffs contain an abundance of fossils from a shallow water environment. The blue-grey mudstone below was deposited at 50 to 80 metres depth. The cliff face records a transition from deep sea to shallow water as ice ages locked water into Antarctic ice sheets and global sea levels fell. Rocks and fossils from deep to shallow water — in one beach visit.

Find a GeoTrips site near your school: geotrips.org.nz
Before the visit
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At the site
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Back in the classroom
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AI as thinking partner
What to do
1
Before the visit

Find your nearest GeoTrips site at geotrips.org.nz. Read the site description yourself. Ask students one question before they go: what do you expect to find at a place like this?

2
At the site

Students observe, photograph, and handle rocks and fossils they find. Use the observation prompts in the next column. Students record what they see in their own words — notes, sketches, or voice recordings on a mobile phone.

3
Photograph everything

Rocks, fossils, layers, textures, colours, scale. A lens cap, coin, or hand in the photograph gives scale. These images are the evidence students bring back to the classroom.

4
Back in the classroom

Students compare what they found with what they expected. They bring their photographs and observations to AI and test general geological knowledge against what they actually saw.

5
The closing question

What does this rock or fossil tell us about the environment that existed here, long before this place looked anything like it does today?

At the site — observation prompts
Texture and shape Are the rocks smooth or rough? Rounded or angular? Fine-grained or coarse? What might have caused the texture you can see?
Layers Can you see distinct layers in the rock? Are they the same thickness? The same colour? What might each layer represent?
Fossils Can you find any fossils? Are they whole or fragmented? Are they all the same type or mixed? What were these creatures doing when they were preserved?
Change over time Does the rock look the same from top to bottom? If the layers are different, what might have changed in the environment between when each layer was deposited?
For the teacher
A guided field trip with an expert geologist is the optimal version of this experience. GeoTrips sites are documented precisely to make independent visits possible and productive. The site content is the expert. The teacher's role is to ask the questions.
Also in Real World Protocols — field geology Every Rock Tells a Story — Part 1: The Puzzle Every Rock Tells a Story — Part 2: The Theory Every Rock Tells a Story — Part 3: The Evidence
Health and safety: As with any activity outside the classroom, please ensure your school's own EOTC requirements and health and safety procedures are followed. Your staff will know what that looks like for your context.

Back in the classroom: AI as thinking partner (Real World Ready Layer 2)

Years 5–6
Name what you foundShow AI a photograph of a rock or fossil from the site. Ask: "What is this? Where might it have come from?" Then ask: does AI's answer match what the site told you?
How old is it?Ask AI: "How do scientists work out how old a rock is?" Then ask: "Could the rocks at [site name] be older or younger than the ones in my neighbourhood? Why?" Use the site description to check.
What lived here?If fossils were found, ask AI: "What kind of creature made this fossil? What did its world look like when it was alive?" Compare AI's answer with the environment described on the GeoTrips page.
Years 7–10
Reading the layersDescribe the layers you observed to AI. Ask: "What does a change in rock type between layers tell a geologist about changes in the environment?" Apply this to what you saw at the site.
Fossils as evidenceAsk AI: "What conditions are required for a fossil to form? Why are some environments more likely to preserve fossils than others?" Test this against the fossils you found and where you found them.
Local to globalAsk AI: "What larger geological events might explain what I found at [site name]?" Compare AI's explanation with the GeoTrips site description. Where do they agree? Where does AI generalise where the site is specific?
Years 11–13
Sedimentary environmentsDescribe the rock types and structures you observed. Ask AI to identify the likely depositional environment and explain its reasoning. Evaluate AI's response against the site evidence and your own observations.
Stratigraphic interpretationAsk AI: "How would a geologist reconstruct the environmental history of a site from its rock sequence?" Apply this methodology to what you observed. Where is the interpretation well-supported and where does uncertainty remain?
Scientific confidenceAsk AI to distinguish between what is established geological knowledge and what remains interpreted or uncertain about the site you visited. Identify where the GeoTrips description and AI's account diverge and explain why.
Experience Trace Scale — applicable to any GeoTrips site
Level Years 5–6 Years 7–10 Years 11–13
1 I can describe one thing I saw at the site that I couldn't have seen in a classroom. I can describe the key geological features of the site and explain what makes them significant. I can characterise the site's geology in terms of rock type, structure, and depositional environment.
2 I can say what I think the environment looked like a long time ago based on what I found. I can reconstruct the environmental history of the site from the evidence I observed and explain my reasoning. I can construct a stratigraphic narrative from my observations and identify the evidence that supports each interpretive step.
3 I can say one thing AI told me and whether it matched what I saw at the site. I can identify where AI's response matched the site evidence and where it generalised beyond what the site specifically shows. I can critically evaluate AI's geological interpretation against my own observations and the site documentation, identifying points of agreement, generalisation, and uncertainty.
4 I can explain why being at the site gave me something I couldn't have got from a screen. I can explain what direct observation adds to geological interpretation that secondary sources cannot provide. I can articulate the distinction between field observation, secondary documentation, and AI-generated synthesis, and explain the evidential weight of each.
5 I can say one question I have now that I didn't have before I visited the site. I can identify what remains uncertain or unexplained about the site and propose what investigation would resolve it. I can propose a research question arising from my observations, identify appropriate investigative methods, and explain what a definitive answer would contribute to understanding the site's geological history.
GeoTrips concept and sites by Julian Thomson, Out There Learning  ·  Geoscience New Zealand  ·  Real World Ready methodology by Field-Based STEM
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