BC Mining and Community Showcase

In the the course of doing geosciences and mining units in your classroom, you and your students do many interesting and creative projects. Special projects requiring research, writing, craftwork, and creativity make these units more interesting and memorable. To proudly display the work of BC students MREPBC is adding a new, online gallery to our Web site this fall - the BC Mining and Community Showcase.

The Showcase theme, BC Mining and Community, was chosen to encourage students in communities all over the province to learn about how Earth's mineral resources and mining are intertwined with their community and their lives. It is intentionally broad to appeal to all Grade levels and mineral-related curriculum, be it geosciences or mining focused. Our goal is for the Showcase to grow by submissions each year, and to help other students - and all other visitors to the site - to better understand how mineral resources, mineral exploration and mining touch our province. We know that it will also inspire teachers with new and creative approaches to teach about mineral resources and mining.

Tailor your class' projects to tie into your curriculum, tell the story or present the information you want to share about how mining relates to you, and use the media that works best for you!

Make a story board about a visit to a nearby mine or quarry.

Create 3-d models of a nearby mine or quarry.

Write a poem or song about who works in a mine, how rock is turned into copper, or the many uses of clay. Video the performance.
Maybe you have a winter sports event happening in your community. Create posters on the mineral resources used for the equipment, the facilities, etc.
Investigate the metal fabricators in your home town. What metals do they use? Where do they come from? How are they turned into usable products?
Maybe you live in or near a community where there had been mining in the past. Tell this special story of the mining history in your community in an essay, play, storyboard or song, or write and illustrate a historical novel. Create a Web site about the history.
Invite a geologist or miner from your community to visit your class. Tell in pictures and words what you learned about their work.
Establish a pen pal between your students and exploration or mining people. Create and illustrate short biographies of your class' pen pal(s).
Hold a town hall meeting in your classroom on a hypothetical (or real) proposed mine site. Video tape the proceedings.
Inventory the buildings (e.g. community schools) in your neighbourhood. Identify the key mineral resources used in their construction that make their existence possible.
Is there a Mine Safety Competition being held in your community? Investigate the event, attend and document in your project what the competition is about.

Your students' projects are a terrific way to connect the aims of your curriculum to real things in your community. The Showcase is a great vehicle for showing the world the creative ways your students learn in school.

Submissions will be accepted throughout the year. All student projects must be submitted (by email or on CD) to MREPBC in a digital form: photos (jpeg), html files, videos, pdf files, powerpoint files, music, etc. Please phone or email MREPBC at 604-681-4321 ext 115 or stenzel@bcminerals.ca to discuss your ideas or to answers your questions.