During this interactive presentation, students apply their knowledge to discover what Alberta was like during the Cretaceous.

Program Length: 45 Minutes

What was it like in Alberta during the Cretaceous? And how do scientists know? During this interactive presentation, students apply their knowledge of the rock cycle, fossils, glaciation, the Earth’s orbit and the effect of volcanic eruptions, to discover what Alberta was like during the Cretaceous. The presentation gives students bite-sized appetizers of the different ways scientists know what it was like here 73 million years ago. Through the examination of real fossils and participating in a dramatization of the last glaciation and the formation of a hoodoo, the presentation leaves the students itching for more and an appreciation for geology, palaeontology and science.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

Grade 7 – (Science) Unit E: Planet Earth Formation of igneous rock, metamorphism and sedimentary processes, geological time scale, fossil formation, weathering and erosion.

Outcomes:

• interpreting evidence that Earth’s surface undergoes e.g. volcanoes, glacial erosion and river erosion
• describe characteristics of the three main classes of rocks
• describe the role of fossil evidence in interpreting sedimentary rocks
• describe local rocks and sediments, and interpret ways they have formed
• investigate and interpret examples of weathering, erosion and sedimentation
• describe the nature of different kinds of fossils (e.g. identify the kinds of rocks where fossils are likely to be found, identify possible means of preservation)