Heidi and Allen McGrew have teamed up to bring UD student into elementary school classrooms throughout the Dayton area in a service-learning project called Field Trip to Planet Earth. Through this program students in introductory geology and earth science classes work together with a core of more advanced geology students (the geomentors) to develop hands-on learning activities for elementary school children.

To prepare their lessons the college students have access to a library of lesson plans and hands-on educational materials such as sample collections, volcano and aquifer models, stream tables for simulating floods, and models to simulate earthquakes or weather phenomena. When the classroom visit finally transpires the college students often find that they have as much to learn or re-learn from the bubbling enthusiasm and native curiosity of the elementary school kids as the kids have to learn from them. Field Trip to planet Earth ties experiential learning and community service together in a framework that not only deepens student expertise in aspects of earth science, but also nurtures team work, written and oral communications skills, and a sense of personal ownership and connection to the course material.

Field Trip to Planet Earth program has been presented in 12 different schools (ranging from parochial to inner city public to suburban public schools). Some of the schools have been visited yearly. Over 1,000 UD students have participated, and over 2,200 elementary students have been involved with it.  The program has been funded by the University of Dayton and an Ohio Campus Compact grant.