Saturday 31 March 2007

RIGS - Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological Sites

RIGS groups aim to identify, survey, protect and promote geological and geomorphological sites within their areas. RIGS are selected for their educational, research, historical and aesthetic value and some sites already have SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) status.

The nationwide organisation UK RIGS (www.ukrigs.org.uk) has set up twelve sites of exceptional educational value. We are very fortunate in the West Country in that one of those sites is in Somerset - Tedbury Camp and Vallis Vale - www.ukrigs.org.uk/html/esos.php

I am leading a field trip to Tedbury Camp and Vallis Vale for the Bath Geological Society on Saturday 21st July. Please contact the secretary if you are interested in joining us - www.bathgeolsoc.org.uk

Friday 30 March 2007

Earth Science in Secondary Education

If you are a science teacher (usually biologist, chemist or physicist) and you have to teach KS3 or KS4 Earth Science, please consider asking me in to run a FREE workshop for the science staff. These are devised by the Earth Science Education Unit (ESEU) and are packed with activities which your pupils will enjoy. The KS3 workshops can be seen on the ESEU website www.earthscienceeducation.com.

There are also two new workshops for KS4 covering all the Earth Science in the new specifications.
These are not on the website yet but I have already demonstrated them to loud approval from the participants. They are:-
  • The Earth and Plate Tectonics; the whole story
  • Life, Atmosphere and everything

Thursday 29 March 2007

Geological Organisations in the West Country

Maybe because of our increasing awareness of the need to conserve and preserve our environment, I find that lots of people are now very interested in geology. On the right-hand side of this blog you will see a list of all the geological organisations in the West Country and it is hoped that this will help to assimilate ideas from all the members and officers of those societies and groups.

Eventually, I hope we can publish a list of all sites of geological interest in our area so if you know of any that have public access, please let us know. Most of the groups already have their own lists which we can all share. Perhaps we can join together for field trips too?