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Many geoscience educators have noted the difficulty that students experience in transferring their classroom knowledge to the field environment. The Geoscience Garden, on the University of Alberta North Campus, provides a simulated field environment in which Earth Science students can develop field observation skills, interpret features of Earth's crust in three dimensions, and discover Earth history. The garden consists of large (1-5 m) boulders and rock slabs arranged in a landscaped layout that represents the geology of western and northern Canada. The project adds a unique capability for teaching basic field skills to students in a local environment and prepares them for field courses at more remote locations. Students work in the garden in a second-year introductory structural geology class that precedes a field school. Student perceptions of the effectiveness of the installation were evaluated using surveys of students returning from field school. Initial responses were positive; students returning from field school after the introduction of the garden reported significantly greater satisfaction with their ability to collect field data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the minerals from the Pine Point deposits in the Northwest Territories. The Pine Point district first attracted economic attention because of the prospectors on their way to the Klondike gold rush more than a century ago. The deposit yielded numerous types of minerals, including zinc and rock salt.