Tuesday 21 August 2012

Day 4 of the SMA GeoVenture

Sarah Lipoth - Parkland College - Yorkton & Esterhazy campuses
Henry Ollegasagrem - Mining Engineering Technology Program, SIAST Kelsey Campus, Saskatoon
Erin Forbes - St.Walburg School

Tuesday morning began early with breakfast at the hotel, followed by loading up the bus.  Before we left town, a stop at the local Tim Horton's was in order.  Once we got on the highway, we were entertained with videos about the discovery of 'Scotty' the T-rex and the building of the T-rex discovery centre in Eastend.  We passed by some wind farms in the Gull Lake area and were able to see an interesting juxtaposition of oil wells and windmills amid fields of grain.

On arriving at the T-rex discovery centre, we were split into groups based on the age groups that we teach - elementary, secondary, and 'other'.  The 'other' group began our tour with some shopping time, followed by a screening of the video about Scotty (this time on a large screen), and then a guided tour through the exhibits that were on display.  Next, we participated in an activity involving making plastic casts of dinosaur teeth. While our casts were curing, we were challenged to identify whether various displays in the museum were actual fossils or replicas. We ended up with dinosaur tooth keychains to take home as souvenirs.  Then we joined the secondary group for a tour of the lab space where a number of researchers were working on a variety of fossils.



*Erin here - I'm just going to jump in and explain an archaeology activity that the elementary teachers got to experience while the other two groups were rotating through their centers.
In the front sidewalk of the Center, there is a circular pit of sand. Before we arrived at the Center, one of the employees had buried fossil replicas throughout the pit. We were given a 'dig map' (which was essentially a circle divided into 8 pie pieces), a pencil, a shovel, and a paint brush. We were told we were going to be digging for fossils and were explained the process that archaeologists use while in the field. The sand pit was divided into 8 pieces to match the map, using reflective tape to mark off each section. The instructions were to choose a quadrant and start digging. When we found a fossil, it was to be left exactly where it was found, and then recorded on the map. Some people drew a picture of each fossil, and some just named the fossil. We had no idea how big these fossils we were looking for were, but everyone just dove in and started digging. The fossils ranged from dinosaur eggs to the femur of a T-rex. It was a very creative activity that we all enjoyed. As we were digging, we were commenting that this would be a fairly easy activity to recreate for our students and we anticipated that they would get a lot of enjoyment, not to mention practical experience, from it!*



Lunch was catered and as usual consisted of large quantities of excellent food.  After lunch, the elementary teachers had an opportunity to finish some dinosaur tooth casts.  Those of us who had completed our teeth headed outside to draw landscapes of the Frenchman River Valley.  A few people also went searching for (and found) a nearby geocache.  After a few more photo-ops we got back on the bus and headed for our next destination.



Once we were done with T-Rex discovery center tour, Ken drove through the foothills of Cypress Hills to the Stage Coach Hotel in Willow Bunch (hi Mohammed). On the way, we stopped for a coffee break at the Co-Op gas station in Woodrow (we all played with three cute dogs!). Then Ken drove  to the Willow Bunch golf club at Jean Legere Park snaking through a shady and narrow gravel road safely. We were greeted by Sherritt Poplar River mine representatives Bruce, Dallas, Guy, Al, Jarad, Emily, Regan, Cory and Steve, In the meantime, we had a chance to meet Pam's family (husband and cute little kids) during our visit.

Following was a delicious BBQ (steak, salad and great deserts) in the patio behind golf club, Jared and Emily presented the Orientation and Guy presented the safety aspects. It was a nice presentation about the open pit mine at Poplar River (sequence of mining process and transport to the SaskPower station by train) with minimum disturbance to the environment considering the community, air quality, surface and ground water protection. Because of the interest of fellow colleagues alot of Q&A followed.

Then, at the end of the session Ken safely took us back to the motel. It was the end of a gorgeous day 4 in our educational trip by SMA GeoVenture.

No comments:

Post a Comment