Nerves

I have to teach my first lesson of the year tomorrow and I am being evaluated. Lucky me?
So I worked on it/procrastinated all week and just finished putting the finishing touches on it. Only 7 powerpoint slides for a 90 min class, because I hate death by powerpoint.

We are going to talk about William Smith who was a freelancer (coal miner, surveyor, etc) who notices that rock beds occurred in a similar pattern over large portions of England. He used this to create the first geologic map of England. Unfortunately, the story is sort of sad, but has a happy ending. Because Smith was of lowly birth and geology was the pursuit of "gentlemen", the head of the Royal Society of London stole Smith's map and produced a similar one which he sold at a lower price, resulting in Smith going into debtor's prison. He eventually got out and ended up being able to make a living on the lecture circuit later in life, and is credited as the Father of Stratigraphy.

William Smith's Geologic Map of England circa 1800.

Then we are going to talk about maps of different scales with different info, before showing them the maps I make on microscopic scales to look at microbial influence on elemental distribution. I am going to use these maps to walk them through my career as a scientist.
Then they are going to make me maps that explain who they are and why.
I think this might be a good way for them to think about what we are going to be doing over the course of the year, which is to compare two ecosystems from two streams in the city to look at the impacts of urban development on water quality.
I hope this works. I would have liked to try it out before having to be evaluated on it.