Why are Quarries Important? How do they Impact the Environment? Tour a Virtual Quarry to Find Out!

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Nikki Phipps is a freelance writer of numerous articles and other publications, including the premiere issue of Perspectives Magazine. She also maintains a gardening site, GardenCrypt in her spare time. Drawing inspiration from family and past experiences, Nikki believes everyone has something to say that can benefit others, which is why she turned to writing. “There’s no better tool for learning than that of personal experience.” Nikki resides in NC with her two children and three stepchildren.

Name of Product: Virtual Quarry

Link to Product/website: http://www.virtualquarry.co.uk

Description of Product: “The Virtual Quarry is a great resource for learning and understanding why we need quarrying and how the industry works.”

Nikki’s Description of Product: The Virtual Quarry is a UK-based site developed by the Quarry Products Association. Its main goal is to teach children (grades 3-9) about the quarrying industry, in addition to learning more about rocks, minerals, geology, fossils, and the like. This free learning tool offers a fun, interactive experience for children and a curriculum-focused educational resource for parents/teachers, consisting of various activities, lesson plans, and more.

At the Virtual Quarry, kids can take a tour in a quarry to learn more about how they operate. This interactive tour allows them to ‘drive’ a quarry truck and visit a rock quarry, where they sign in, put on safety gear, and learn how rock is mined, processed and transported. They can even help activate a blast!

This site also contains information on quarry safety and includes important safety tips in the Rock Spot area, where you can download their Guide to Staying Safe (in PDF). You can also find career information and links to other resources. Don’t forget to check out the Did You Know section while you’re browsing around. Here you’ll find fascinating facts and stories about quarrying and marine dredging.

Homeschool Uses: The Teacher’s Desk is filled with numerous ideas to use with children and offers information on incorporating quarries into your curriculum. Parents will find links to educational units and lesson plans, which can be customized to fit their current topic or theme. These are PDF files, which requires Adobe Reader. You’ll find ideas on how to incorporate quarrying themes into science, geography and citizenship. For instance, science units cover things like scientific inquiry, investigative skills, life processes, living things and more. Geography units help children develop an understanding of place, patterns and processes as well as environmental change. Citizenship education helps children become involved, making informed decisions and teaching them about responsibility. For additional learning, you could even visit a nearby quarry (restored or working) if there is one available.

Content and Safety: I found no safety issues or concerns with any of the content on the site.

Nikki’s Experience Using the Product: In the Quarry Activities section, you will find the Rock Cinema, where you can watch various videos ranging from sand and gravel quarrying to archaeology. Simply click a topic from the pile of film reels. These videos require Windows Media Player and work best with Internet Explorer. Take a look at various rock samples using the Virtual Microscope. (Note: You will need the latest version of Flash to use the virtual microscope and many other features of the site.) This animated microscope provides up close views of different types of rocks with short descriptions for each one, as well as links to other useful websites. Kids can Restore a Quarry, turning an abandoned quarry into a nature reserve by planting virtual grass, reeds, and trees. In addition to geography, this makes a good math lesson, as the items chosen for renovation cost money, which the kids must budget. There are also links to lesson plans on the use and restoration of quarries. Restored quarries provide unique opportunities to look into ecosystems and biodiversity.

In the Young Geologist section, kids can look at fossils and learn more about them and their history. They can also learn how to make their own fossils or create a fossil time line. Quarry Rescue is a fun game also located on the site that will test your child’s knowledge of quarry safety. Here he or she will have to save the trespassers from the dangers found within the quarry before time runs out.

Tutorial or Promotional Video of the Product: The site contains a video that may be helpful for using this site in and out of a classroom setting.

Summary: This interactive site is a great way to connect the real world of rocks and quarries into classroom study. The activities and information on this site help children to understand the economic importance of quarrying, and how restored quarries impact the environment. I feel kids can learn a lot here; I did. In fact, I was able to develop a better understanding of the type of work my grandfather, and his father before him, performed in the granite quarrying industry.