Tentative Field Trips for the 2003 Canada Wide Science Fair

Tyrrell Museum (Drumheller)

Situated in the Red Deer River Valley and opened in 1985, the Royal Tyrrell Museum is known the world over as an outstanding palaeontology museum and research facility. Ten fascinating galleries and feature exhibitions celebrate the spectacular history and diversity of life on Earth. Learn about the projects and passions of the Tyrrell palaeontologists who bring the ancient story to life. Watch technicians carefully remove rock from fossils that may hold new clues to the past. Tour Discoveries Hall to see the museum's prize specimens. And then… begin your journey through geological time by observing the dozens of skeletons and hundreds of fossils that tell the story of ancient Alberta. Every step along the way you'll experience the evolution of life: from sea dwellers to the Tyrrell's dinosaurs, from furry little mammals to many of Earth's present inhabitants- it's all there! Following our visit to the museum and weather permitting, we will tour the Dinosaur Trail, exploring hoodoos and eroded formations that make up this prehistoric valley.

Banff National Park, Alberta

Canada's first national park is home to a variety of distinctive natural features and cultural and historical sites. Rugged mountains, glaciers, icefields, alpine meadows, beautiful blue cold-water lakes, mineral hot springs, deep canyons, and hoodoos compose the natural landscape and habitat for a great variety of mammals such as elk, bighorn sheep, black and grizzly bear, and caribou. On this field trip, learn about the amazing natural forces that formed the awesome mountain landscape around Banff and visit some of the following natural and historic sites: Banff Park Museum, Bankhead Coal Mines, Cave and Basin National Historic Site, Sulphur Mountain Weather Observatory, Sulphur Mountain Gondola, Canada Place Centre.

Calgary Zoo / Destination Africa

The Calgary Zoo's Destination: Africa project showcases the Zoo's African animals in their natural environments. A small African village consisting of round thatched huts welcomes visitors to this exhibit, which comprises both rainforest and bushveld habitats. The rainforest gives visitors a unique opportunity to experience the steamy atmosphere of a tropical African rainforest with its unforgettable sights, sounds and smells. The African Bushveld, with its wide-open spaces, displays animals (giraffes, hippos, and warthogs) from the same biogeographic region together and illustrates their interdependent nature.

The giraffe exhibit features the world's first "disappearing walls", fashioned after airplane hangar doors. When opened, visitors will enjoy a spectacular vista of giraffes, zebras and ostriches intermingling. This effect, never before created in a zoo setting, will help capture the true nature of the African Bushveld. Visitors to the hippo enclosure experience the unique opportunity of seeing the river hippopotamus in its underwater realm. The Calgary Zoo will be the first in the world to offer indoor underwater viewing of these fascinating animals.

The many other parts of the world-class Calgary Zoo will be equally exciting to the students who choose this field trip.