Northshore Geology Field Trip presentations

Each of 3 student groups visited 2 locations on the Northshore and presented their findings. I was unable to attend the trip, so I thoroughly enjoyed the video presentations:

Students shared findings with other groups to complete packets of questions/information.

Winnetka Grand Canyon - using a topographic map, create a vertical profile of one of the ravines. See "R" is for Ravines for more information.

Tower Beach - visually document the topography

Glencoe Beach - How are bluffs formed? What is a moraine and how are they formed?

Southern Winnetka - Using the topographic map calculate the approximate gradient of the Highland Park moraine in southern Winnetka.
Gradient = slope = rise/run

Skokie Lagoons Collect/document something representative of this region and visually document your experience. What is a lagoon? What environmental crises occurred in the 1970s at the lagoons and how was it addressed? Where and in which direction does the water flow?

Wilmette Sand spit
The spit was created thousands of years ago when Lake Chicago was at a high water mark (60 ft. higher than Lake Michigan today). Longshore currents swept around the tip of the Highland Park moraine and deposited sediment beyond it, called a sandspit. Visually document the sandspit and the dune field on the grounds of Westmoreland Country Club.


Walking the Beach - Gilson Park: identify and document a sand dune; collect a sample of granite rocks (contains pink), basalt rocks (all black) and a white rock (dolomite). What are Petoskey stones and how did they form?

Continue with Paradigm Shift presentations.

Library research: Chicago as an archetypal American city and "culture factory"