January 2006 ISSUE
grade 3 students peek into
canmore's coal mining past
 |
A ROCKY MOUNTAIN HISTORY |
Five Grade 3 classes in Canmore learned about the rocky world underfoot and all around them, thanks in part to an APEGGA-sponsored program initiated this year by the Centennial Museum Society of Canmore. The event, which included a tour of the Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre, is part of the centre’s outreach program, which is designed to enhance the Grade 3 curriculum.
The interactive, hands-on visit starts with a dress-up session. A student puts on mining gear — long underwear, coveralls, helmet, belt and headlamp.
Christina Pickles, program presenter and tour guide, explains the historical importance of the mining and railroad industries to Canmore and Alberta.
“Canmore started as a coal mining town. It’s an important part of Canmore’s history, so I’ve incorporated this into the Grade 3 rocks and minerals program, which I’ve presented at the Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre for the last two years,” says Ms. Pickles.
She adds that the interactive dress up activity works well with any age group and engages students’ imaginations.
After hearing all about the importance of mining in Canmore’s history, the class moves to the geoscience side of the centre. Here, students watch a short video featuring a character named Dr. Geomorph, and learn about the rocks found in the mountains all around them.
From there the children move on to stations where they either have a scavenger hunt for things around the centre, such as a satellite image of the Rocky Mountains, or an activity centered on rock boxes. Each student receives a booklet with questions about the different characteristics of the rocks in the box.
The children are asked to identify things such as the number of different colours in one rock, the number of sides on a crystal or which rock they can see through. The students move from box to box, identifying the different characteristics of the rocks and minerals.
Each class finishes in about an hour, which is about the right length for the age group. For many of the students, it is their first visit to the Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre.
APEGGA also supported the Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre’s teaching microscope display. This microscope display has two sets of eye-pieces, enabling an instructor and a student to view the same thing at the same time. One of the eye-pieces can be replaced with a digital camera or video recorder, so the image is transmitted to a computer and monitor for several people to view at once.
The Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre was founded in 1984, in recognition of Canmore’s significant geological setting and the importance of geology to the history and prosperity of Alberta.
MORE INFO
Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre
Visit www.cmags.org