GEOG100 Field Trip 2 Elora
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School
University of Waterloo *
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Course
100
Subject
Geography
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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docx
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GEOG 100 Fall 2023
On Becoming a Geographer
Field Trip #2: Elora and Elora Gorge
Groups A: Tuesday October 17
th
Groups B: Thursday October 19
th
Departure at 9:00am in front of EV3 on the Ring Road
Value
10% of your final grade.
Deadline
October 27
th
on LEARN by 11:59pm.
Deliverables
o
Questions - 2%
o
Field trip report - 8%
Description
Work in groups online and offline to explore the town of Elora and Elora Gorge. We’ll explore topics that include the natural processes and formation of the gorge; the cultural, artistic, tourism, and heritage scene of Elora, and Mennonite and Indigenous history in the area. You’ll answer a set of questions, define terms, and complete a field trip report in groups, on the topics of either cliff ecology (a physical geography topic) or trail conservation (a human geography topic).
Tasks and Evaluation
Each group will:
1) Answer the field trip questions
listed below.
2) After the field trip, prepare a field report
on your selected, group-specific “research topic.”
See detailed guidelines below.
You may
include some (no more than four) field
photographs
in your field report if these
are useful for documenting your notes or sketches.
Field sketches usually provide better / more focused information than photographs.
Criteria: Introduction and research question (2 points), background (1 point), methodology (2 points); suitability and accuracy of suggested results (1 point); quality of the discussion (2 points) and validity of conclusions (1 point); language and referencing (1 point).
Approximately 1,500 words
Field Trip Questions
1.
What was the name of the Proclamation of 1784 that defines Indigenous land tenure along the Grand River?
2.
What is the largest city that is located within this corridor defined by the Proclamation,
3.
How many covered bridges still exist in Ontario today?
4.
When was the covered bridge (or “Kissing Bridge”) of West Montrose built?
5.
Around what year did the first Mennonite settlers arrive in what is now Waterloo Region?
6.
What is the name of the geological formation
that forms the rock cliffs of Elora Gorge?
7.
What is the predominant cliff-forming rock type
in the Elora Gorge area?
8.
How and in what environment did this rock form?
9.
When did the Waterloo-Elora area first become ice-free as the Laurentide Ice Sheet melted back from the Lake Erie basin at the end of the last glaciation?
10.What is an interlobate
area, in the context of the Pleistocene glaciation of southern Ontario?
Detailed Field Report Guidelines
In the report you are asked to outline a research project on a topic of your choosing based on either the naturally processes present in the gorge or the human conservation and management of the gorge (you can see more detailed guidelines on these two options at the end of this document). You likely won’t have enough time to undertake a systematic research project! The report is more about stating what you would do, how you would do it, what questions you would ask, and what results you would expect to find, and so on. Conceptualizing
the research project is more important than actually undertaking it at this point. I’m interested in if you can pose an interesting question about the environment around you, and figure out a good way to answer that question.
Field Report Structure
Introduction and Research Question:
What were the overall aims?
What are you trying to find out?
Clearly note your research question. Background and Study Area
Provide a brief background to the study area.
This can be derived from some of your background readings and the information provided during the field trip. Methodology
Describe the methods used to investigate your research topic.
What kind of measurements did you make with what instruments and why.
You may want to prepare a field sketch to show what decided to prepare.
Do not report your results in this section yet - this is only about the methods.
This section can be more about proposed methods - you do not necessarily need to follow through at this point as you have limited time.
Results
State here your expected or preliminary findings based on observation
Outline and briefly describe your results, whether they are qualitative, quantitative, or graphical.
Consider using tables to summarize qualitative or quantitative observations more systematically – e.g., when contrasting two cliff sections, you could list specific features such as the presence or absence of an overhang or a talus slope in a table with two columns, one for each cliff section.
All figures and tables must be integrated within the text of your report (i.e. summarized in the results section).
Discussion
Develop possible explanations for your findings.
As far as possible make reference to other published work or knowledge acquired in other courses.
Focus your discussion on matters that are relevant for your research topic.
Conclusion
Briefly summarize the key take-aways of the report.
State what the implications for next steps and further research are
References
As always, don’t forget to reference properly using APA.
Report and Definition Topics
For your report you can choose to look at either
trail conservation or cliff ecology. The terms that you define will also relate to these topics. The additional information below can give some guidance depending on what your group has chosen to focus on. Trail Conservation
Hiking trails are an important infrastructure in parks and conservation areas. They are used for hiking as a recreational activity, or to access other park facilities. Trails connect, but they also serve as a means to create a distance between a developed area (such as a parking lot or visitor centre) and the natural environment (or what is perceived as such) being visited. Trails are an object of research in geographical recreation and tourism studies as they direct visitors and define their perspective on a landscape. From an ecological perspective, by contrast, trails are disturbances of the natural environment. For example, the vegetation may be damaged by trails, and invasive species will more easily spread from them into a protected area.
Your group may focus on a human or physical geography perspective. For example, from the human geography perspective, you may choose to focus on tourist attractions such as look-out points (existing ones or new ones) or trail safety/accessibility. From the physical geography perspective, you might focus on natural features of interest along the trail, or you may identify damages or disturbances of the environment that are related to the trail and its immediate surroundings. You could also incorporate both the human and physical geography perspectives to, for example, inventory existing look-out points and locations that would be suitable for the construction of new look-out points, and reflect on their impacts on the vegetation or on the visual aspect of a section of the cliff edge. Try to identify concrete examples of such impacts, such as damage to the vegetation, and document them with a field sketch and possibly with field measurements.
Group-specific hints / possible research topics:
Identify and describe geographical features that could be of interest to the visitor in the selected portion of the gorge trail. You can potentially propose new look-out points, information panels, trail improvements or other features that would make the trail more attractive.
Identify and describe potential safety or accessibility issues that may be of concern along
a selected portion of the gorge trail. You could propose trail improvements or other
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features that could make the trail safer and more accessible (although consider the disadvantages to this as well).
Identify and describe observed damages to the natural environment (especially the vegetation, but potentially also rock formations), and propose modifications to the trail that would help minimize these disturbances in the future.
You can choose between a more design-oriented approach (trail improvements etc.) or an interpretative one (interpretation of disturbances, or of features of geographical interest).
Cliff Ecology
Cliff ecologists consider cliffs unique habitats for flora and fauna because of their specific combination of environmental characteristics. Cliffs usually differ from their surroundings in terms of their soil properties, microclimate, snow cover, and mass movement processes, to mention only some of the most striking features. In addition, the cliffs themselves are highly heterogeneous environments (refer to figures provided on LEARN). The cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment of southern Ontario support the oldest pre-settlement forest ecosystem in North America, and similar statements probably hold true for the cliffs of Elora Gorge. When developing your research question, focus on describing cliff vegetation in the gorge area and how it is distributed over and differentiated within the cliff environment.
Group-specific hints/possible research topics:
Describe the vegetation of the cliff; look for plant morphological features that are specific to plants/trees growing in the cliff environment. You are not expected to know all the species. Instead of differentiating the species, you can group them into coniferous and broadleaf trees; or vertically into layers: canopy – understory – shrub layer – ground cover (or herbaceous layer); or according to the plant growth form: trees – shrubs – herbs.
Identify potential human impacts on cliff-edge vegetation as well as natural disturbances.
Describe differences in environmental conditions on the cliff. These conditions may change within a few meters; look for exposure to sunlight and wind, presence/absence of
soil; what does this imply for snow distribution, plant growth, etc.
Contrast cliff-edge and cliff-face vegetation along the gorge. Represent different cliff morphologies (i.e. shapes) with a variety of habitat characteristics. Explain differences and similarities between the two (or more) sites.
GEOG100 Fall 2023
Field Trip #2 Academic Integrity Statement
Please upload this with your assignment - this form affirms that contribution that individual group members made
to the group project. This should be completed collaboratively between group members. If you were unable to get
in contact with a member of your group and they did not contribute to the assignment, please state that here, and
note when you tried to contact them.
State briefly the contribution that each group member made to the project.
Name:
Contribution:
Name: Contribution:
Name: Contribution:
Name:
Contribution:
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