CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Bevier, M.L.; and Thompson, J.C.
Date : 1999.
Title : A place-based, culturally relevant, First Year Geoscience Curriculum Supplement for First Nations' Students from the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada
Publication : Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Denver, Colorado. October 27–30, 1999. (abstract)
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
First Nations' peoples of the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, are increasingly in need of geoscience expertise to apply within their traditional territories both to manage natural resources and to cope with natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and large mass wasting events. In order to attract First Nations' students into geoscience degree programs we developed materials to supplement a first year physical geology course. These materials are place-based and culturally relevant to people of the Tahltan, Nisga'a, Gitxsan, and Tsimshian nations. The curriculum supplement examines geoscience from the dual perspectives of indigenous knowledge and of western science. Permission has been sought from the relevant tribal or band councils to gather material for this project and we are seeking permission from individual elders to use their stories and traditional knowledge to enhance the curriculum. Topics in the North Coast curriculum supplement include Unifying Theories (origin of Earth, plate tectonics, geologic time), Dynamic Earth (volcanoes, earthquakes, landscape formation), and Earth's Resources (metallic minerals, coal, and non-metallic resources). For each of these topics we include local examples of geologic materials or processes, indigenous knowledge about the topic, relevant web sites, field trip guides, videos, laboratory exercises, reading assignments, and examples of K-12 outreach activities. Sharing knowledge with all ages is an important aspect of the culture of indigenous peoples. Hence, an integral part of the curriculum supplement is the inclusion of outreach activities, to be presented by First Nations' students currently taking geology at college or university. This initiative is one of a number of supplementary geoscience curriculum packages, from regions across North America, that are being written in cooperation with the United States Geological Survey's Earth Science for Indigenous Peoples project, and these materials will be accessible over the World Wide Web.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology