From May 26-31, 2005, a group of geological researchers, 20 students from five schools for the deaf, and their Earth System Science teachers participated in “Faults in the Field,” a trip to Utah to study faults.

This field study was the culmination of a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation to integrate research on fault system evolution at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst with Earth System Science learning at the high school level. The aim of the project was to foster student interest in solid-Earth Science through hands-on activities and involvement with professional researchers. The student participants were part of a web-based, collaborative Earth System Science program for deaf and hard of hearing students called SOAR-High.

The trip itinerary included visits to the Wasatch Mountains outside Salt Lake City, the San Raphael Swell, Arches National Park, and the Moab Fault. The students used the techniques and understanding they gained from classroom experiments with sandbox models of faults to observe, sketch, and measure actual active and ancient faults within a variety of rock types.