| Subjects | industrial minerals; building stones; marble, building stone; sandstone, building stone; limestone, building stone; granite, building stone; marble, building stone; gneiss, building stone; orogenesis;
erosion; minerals; sedimentary rocks; igneous rocks; volcanic rocks; plutonic rocks; metamorphic rocks; fossils; granodiorite, building stone; schists; basalts; syenite, building stone |
| Abstract | Welcome to the Downtown Vancouver GeoTour!
Our learning about the Earth, geological processes and features, and the relevance of its mineral resources to everyday
life is really best addressed
outside of the classroom. While there is much to be said for a back-country field trip, we
can often just go out into our own "backyards" to observe, appreciate and consider these Earth-focused topics.
This professional development field trip
for teachers will introduce the local geologic setting and will visit several
historical buildings that use locally quarried stone. Stops at other buildings will show many other different, commonly
exotic, rock types, and will demonstrate
through their compositions, textures and structures how they formed (e.g.
igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic.) This tour will also include a stop at the BC Geological Survey for an introduction
to the role of this organization in mineral
resource management, and a mid-day stop at the Geological Survey of
Canada for a presentation on the southwest BC tectonic setting and related natural hazards.
This walking tour for teachers is intended to show how the city centre can be a
great local field trip to take with your
students who are learning about geosciences, mineral resources or mining in school, particularly Grade 5 and older.
While using rocks and minerals as the theme, this field trip will also integrate local
human history, transportation,
reading maps, and the GPS, and will, therefore support curriculum more broadly. It will also introduce activities you
might like to repeat when doing this tour with your students.
The stops on this field
are chosen to demonstrate the compositions, textures and internal structures that are key
to interpreting how rocks form and to build understanding of the rock cycle. Along the way, we hope to cover the
following geoscience concepts and
vocabulary:
Igneous: plutonic, volcanic, granite/granodiorite (phenocryst, xenoliths), syenite, basalt (vesicles, columnar
jointing), porphyry
Sedimentary: sandstone (grain-size, cross-bedding) marine and non-marine fossils, coal,
limestone
depositional environments, susceptibility to weathering, burrowing
Metamorphic: gneiss, schist (porphyroblast), slate, marble
Weathering: rust (oxidation), root break-up (biological), sandstone disintegration, copper
oxidation
Man-made mineral products: bricks, concrete, steel, glass, aluminum
SW BC geologic setting, earthquakes, volcanoes, other natural hazard risks
This guide book was will provide you with brief descriptions of some interesting
and accessible stops in the heart of
downtown Vancouver that can be visited along a circular route beginning at the Vancouver Trade and Convention
Centre. To guide this field trip in the future, it also provides you with a location map, a
simple summary diagram of the
rock cycle, a map of SW BC showing the locations of historical and present day quarries referenced in the guide, and
two schematic tectonic cross-sections through our area. |