Britannia Mine Museum Mineralogy Program Enhancement

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A 2014 Grant supported the Britannia Mine Museum Mineralogy Program Enhancement. This display complements the ‘What is an Element?’ display in our Minerals Unearthed classroom, funded by the CGF in 2012. There are three sections within the surface display, each having students compare descriptions of two minerals and then identify the elements that they are composed of, using clues from the mineral descriptions. The minerals for comparison are:
• Halite and sylvite – with potassium, chlorine, silicon, sodium
• Ruby and spinel – with magnesium, aluminum, chromium, oxygen
• Galena and cinnabar – with copper, sulphur, lead, mercury

The elements are safely encased in acrylic resin and the blocks are free from the display meaning that students can lift them to examine closely. Beneath the surface display are three drawers. Each allows the students to take a closer look at the ratios of elements in minerals and how changing ratios changes the mineral. Those looked at are:
• Tenorite and cuprite
• Malachite and azurite
• Covellite and chalcocite
Like the surface display, the drawers comparing tenorite/curpite and covellite/chacocite contain the appropriate elements encased in resin. For these, the elements are in the correct ratios, e.g. tenorite has one oxygen and one copper block, whereas cuprite has one oxygen and two copper blocks. For the malachite and azurite drawer a specimen of each of the minerals was included to add variety to the display.
This display will be incorporated into the museum’s earth science school programs:

Pacific Museum of Earth Teacher Training Program

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A Canada Geological Foundation Grant has helped support the Pacific Museum of Earth Teacher Training Program. They report:-
On October 24, 2014, the Pacific Museum of Earth hosted a 1-day teacher training workshop. We hosted 21 K-12 educators from the Lower Mainland for a day of Earth science lectures and activities. Workshop registration was free for teachers and the PME provided lunch as well as specimen kits, which contained a selection of rocks and minerals.
We plan to run our teacher training program annually as a means to forge stronger relationships with BC schoolteachers, introducing some to Earth Sciences for the first time and building upon past experiences for returning participants. Many K-12 teachers feel unprepared to teach this area of the science curriculum. In particular, teachers who come from an arts background are confused by the range and depth of the subject material and unsure how to present it in the classroom. In our workshop, we explored K-12 program requirements through presentations, hands-on activities and experiments. We linked each topic to the Prescribed Learning Outcomes as detailed in the BC curriculum.
Our workshop topics included:
• Stars and the solar system
• Rock identification
• Fossil identification
• Mineral identification
• Earthquakes and plate tectonics
• Volcanoes
Graduate students and instructors from the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences led 30 minutes presentations for each topic followed by a 20-30 minute hands on experiment or activity. We ordered a catered lunch for all of the teachers and instructors.
We evaluated the effectiveness of the workshop through an anonymous online questionnaire where teachers could provide feedback and suggestions for next year.
We appreciate the support provided by the Canadian Geological Foundation and would not have been able to successfully run these programs without it!

Display Case funded by CGF

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The “Petit Musée de minéralogie de  l’UQAC” has reported that the $8000 grant provided to them in 2011 has resulted in the installation of new display cases for their mineralogical displays. They are presently preparing material to display which should be ready sometime this fall, so please visit if you are in Chicoutimi.

Mining Matters Aboriginal Education and Outreach Programs

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Mining Matters was approved June 2012 for annual funding of $20,000 for the years of 2012 and 2013 in support of Aboriginal Education and Outreach Programs, (formerly named Aboriginal Youth Outreach Summer Camp Program). The Aboriginal Education and Outreach Program was developed to engage youth in Earth’s sciences, providing them with the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and career information to equip them for the future.
The Aboriginal Education and Outreach Program has four components:
– Mining Rocks Earth Science Camps
– Professional development workshops for teachers in Aboriginal communities
– In-class presentations for students
– Public outreach during community events, career fairs and the Canadian Aboriginal Festival
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GAC 2012 Outreach

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Teachers at workshop

CGF provided support to the St. John’s 2012 GAC-MAC Local Organizing Committee for the planning and delivery of the EdGEO Teacher Workshop and Field Trip held May 25-26, 2012 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. This two day activity-based program was attended by 38 local teachers and more than a dozen experienced geoscience facilitators. The Newfoundland and Labrador curriculum-linked workshops provided a unique opportunity for educators to discover teaching strategies and tools to make Earth Science topics relevant, engaging and fun! Continue reading →

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