Investigating Edinburgh's Geological Past Session 3: Holyrood Park Field Trip

‘Investigating Edinburgh’s Geological Past’ is created for learners aged 12-14 at the S2 level, introducing basic geological ideas and skills and encouraging learners to explore the rich geological heritage of Edinburgh. (for a full description of this OER series, see the Session One description, with a link in a section below)

This session is a field trip to Holyrood Park to observe sandstones at Camstone Quarry and igneous rocks at “The Dasses” to learn about past environments and how rocks form and erode, by means of hands-on activities. The pack includes a student workbook in Word.docx and PDF formats, along with a Teacher’s guide to help teachers run a class with the slides.

Links to the accompanying sessions:
One: Rock Descriptions: Teaching and demonstration of three different rock types and their formation, followed by a hands-on activity in describing rocks.
Two: Carboniferous Edinburgh and Fieldwork Preparation: Exploring the Carboniferous environment using BGS poster; Preparation for the field trip by writing aims and hypothesis and practising field sketches.
Three: Holyrood Park Field Trip (this session): Field trip to Holyrood Park to visit Camstone Quarry (Sandstones and past environments) and The Dasses (intrusive igneous rocks, cooling rates and erosion).
Four: Reconstructing Past Environments: Group work using Evidence Packs and field trip observations to determine what the environment during the Carboniferous period was like. Students to write a postcard to consolidate this knowledge as a picture and in text.
Five: Edinburgh in 100 years’ Time: Consideration of different development pressures on Holyrood Park in the future. Students work in groups to present a proposed development.

Experiences and Outcomes of this session:
SOC 3-07a: Having investigated processes which form and shape landscapes I can explain their impact on selected landscapes in Scotland, Europe and beyond.
SCN3-17a: Through evaluation of a range of data, I can describe the formation, characteristics and uses of soils, minerals and basic types of rocks.
MNU 3-11a: I can solve practical problems by applying my knowledge of measure, choosing the appropriate units and degree of accuracy for the task and using a formula to calculate area or volume when required.

‘Investigating Edinburgh’s Geological Past’ was created by Jenny Ridout, adapted into an OER by Mayu Ishimoto. The resource is available under a Creative Commons AttributionShareAlike 4.0 license unless otherwise stated.

Header Image Attribution: Arthur’s Seat by Jenny Ridout, 2023, CC BY-SA.