July 2010

PEGNL sponsors Marystown Teacher for GeoCanada 2010 Conference
By: Greg Pittman

Once every decade, GeoCanada brings together geoscientists, academics and industry representatives from across the country for a week-long conference. 

GeoCanada 2010 was held in Calgary and incorporated a significant education component. The organizers realized that tomorrow’s engineers and geoscientists are sitting in today’s classrooms. They also acknowledged that Earth Science literacy, among today’s youth, is a very important aspect of a person’s overall learning and has much room for improvement.

In conjunction with the organizers of the main conference, EdGeo, a national body that promotes earth science education, organized a student exhibit and a teacher workshop.  The student exhibit brought more than 2,000 Calgary-area high school students to the conference to experience interactive displays that were designed to inspire, educate and develop greater Earth Science literacy.

Teacher Group work through Earth Science activities:

The teacher workshop was held prior to the main conference. EdGeo invited all provincial Engineering and Geoscience Associations to sponsor a teacher to attend.  Three of these provincial bodies responded and I am pleased to report that as the Newfoundland and Labrador representative I had a very valuable experience in Calgary.  I joined twenty-four other science teachers from eight provinces for the two-day workshop. Thanks to PEGNL for the opportunity. 

The session on Day One was to learn how to incorporate Earth Science activities into all science courses. Most of the teachers in attendance were Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics teachers. EdGeo recognized the value of Earth Science education, but since only four provinces offer a high school geology course, the way to expose Canadian students to Earth Science is to have teachers incorporate related lessons and activities into other subject areas. 

We were guided through a multitude of activities [see photo] from the chemistry of water purification to the physics of landslides.

Day Two was a field trip to the Tyrell Dinosaur Museum and Badlands in Drumheller.  The focus was on the museum’s educational programs, both on-site and through their teleconference studio where they can stream live sessions to any classroom with an internet connection. Near the end of the day, we toured the exhibits and hiked the Badlands.
 

GeoCanada Conference:

Following the teacher program, a full week was devoted to a conference with three distinct sections.

Academic talks from the most recent research were presented in concurrent sessions in Section One. These included a wide range of topics: from ‘Isotope Analysis in Hydrothermal Gold Deposits’ and ‘Early Oxygen Levels in Earth’s Oceans’, to ‘Ediacaran fossils of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland.’

The second section was an exhibit floor with displays from industry, universities and governments. It was a great experience to see the latest industry equipment from private oil and gas companies, as well as the programs offered by universities and governments promoting development of their resources.

Section Three was run by EdGeo and consisted of an arena-sized set of displays for high school students. In two days, there were 2,000 local students bussed in to the site to experience these Earth Science displays.

Overall, I had a tremendous experience.  Much of what I encountered will make its way into my science classes and, through future teacher workshops, into other classes as well. 

I would like to acknowledge the following for supporting my trip: Marystown Central High School and Eastern School District for substitute days; and PEGNL for funding my travel, accommodations, meals and conference fees.

© Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador