{"id":69833,"date":"2020-10-07T14:43:23","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T18:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=69833"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:47:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:47:18","slug":"virtual-sedimentary-geology-field-trips","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/virtual-sedimentary-geology-field-trips\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton Prof. Creates Virtual Sedimentary Geology Field Trips"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton Prof. Creates Virtual Sedimentary Geology Field Trips\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n
\"Prof.
Prof. George Dix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Canada\u2019s capital city is fortunate to have a rich geological history and is home to many unique rock features. In a typical fall term, Carleton University Earth Science<\/a>s Prof. George Dix<\/a> would be taking his students in the ERTH 3206 course on weekly field trips to explore Carleton\u2019s backyard firsthand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The course on sedimentary depositional systems teaches students to interpret modern and ancient environments and examine significant changes throughout Earth\u2019s history. Students would normally spend the first half of the term visiting local sites, studying sedimentary geology, rock types and fossils to understand what that area looked at the time the sediment was accumulating.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThere are many outcrop areas that allow us to look at geology from the perspective of ancient depositional environments,\u201d says Dix.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIn the Ottawa region, most of the rocks that are exposed are between 500-450 million years old. So, we\u2019re talking about very ancient environments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Geoff
Geoff Pignotta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But since classes transitioned to an online format, Dix needed to find a new approach for the experiential learning element of the course and ensure the content would still be accessible to students from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt became a question of what do you do with a field-based course in a local area?\u201d explains Dix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer was to take students on virtual field trips. Dix spent the month of August working with Earth Sciences Lab Co-ordinator Geoff Pignotta<\/a> first by going into the field and filming the footage. Then Dix edited the footage with Carleton\u2019s Instructional Media Services<\/a> into short, bite-sized clips to showcase key features of the terrain.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

Virtual Field Trips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Dix says it took some time to get comfortable being in front of the camera and adapt to following a script. However, the challenges were quickly ironed out to simulate the experience of actually being in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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