Geography Day Trip

In order for Grade 9 students to get a true understanding of how man has changed the landscape and to explore remnants of glaciers that covered this area, a day long trip was organized for the first time in the fall of 2003.

This day long trip which required students to hike about 12 km began at the forgotten village of Grahamsville, located at the corner of Airport and Steeles. We then proceeded to the Forks of the Credit provincial park where the students examined ancient farms and the remains of a power station that served this area until 1947. This region also had the early stages of the Credit River allowing students to observe the characteristics of a river in its early stages. After a thrilling ride around the hairpin turn on the Forks of the Credit Rd., the trip then proceeded to the Cheltenham Badlands. A unique geological feature, a badlands is a landform that is so devoid of nutrients that it cannot support plants. Its characteristic erosion pattern is somewhat fragile and should be respected.

Cheltenham Badlands

After passing by the old Cheltenham Brickyards, we proceeded to walk on an ancient riverbed called an esker and observed the transition growth between the Carolinian forest to the south and the Deciduous Maple-Beech forest more common of Central Southern Ontario.

From there, the trip proceeded southeast to the Limehouse Conservation Area where the students got a change to explore the escarpment close up, see the remains of an old railroad, a mill and the remarkable lime kilns. North of Limehouse, the students also got to walk on a rounded hill called a drumlin. This feature is indicative of the direction of the glacier's flow 10 000 years ago. Seen today in its subdued manner underneath a farmer's cornfield is indicative of the difficulty of understanding large scale effects by observing them close at hand.

Nassagaweya Canyon

The final stop was the remarkable Nassagaweya Canyon, an ancient glacial spillway that carved out this 150m deep channel in the limestone during the time of glacier melting.

Students had a chance to look at this feature, but as our day was almost done, we were unable to explore this feature any further.

Mr. van Bemmel
Expedition Leader