The Copper Basin Problem: Teacher Guide Lesson 8

Application of Data

Objectives:

• To gather information about local open pit gravel mines.
• To relate data from investigations to an actual mine.
• To share data with students in another area that has a different type of open pit mining.
• To discuss the environmental impact of other kinds of mining operations.

Materials:

• Map of county where the mine is located
• Speaker and/or video from a mining corporation
• An internet link with school in a mining area
• Map of the linked area

Procedure:

1. A local mining corporation may be willing to provide a speaker on request and may also provide a video of their operations. A gravel mine was contacted in our situation.
2. Soil samples from the mined area can be provided by the company upon request.
3. Over the internet, classes can share data about mines with a school in another area. In our example, the students in Western Pennsylvania were studying the impact of the strip mining of coal on the environment, and shared their data.