Coastal Processes and Features

A day at the beach! Students visit one of several local beaches that offer an ideal opportunity to identify and understand coastal features such as stumps, caves, wave-cut platforms and more. We will construct a beach profile looking at the way the beach differs in size and shape, and investigating sediment size along the profile survey. Students will gather measurements using handheld computers that they can use in our followup session to accurately plot their measurements.

Students will gain an understanding of coastal processes including deposition, longshore drift and the effects of wave refraction.

The followup session will bring our digital survey data and images together in a short report that can be shared with the group.

Program Outline

Coastal Processes  
8am - 9am Breakfast
9am - 4pm Beach Visit
  Full day activities and study on a local beach near Nanaimo or Campbell River
(lunch provided)
4pm - 5pm Free Time
5pm - 6pm Dinner
6pm - 8pm Followup Session - Classroom
  Review of data collected, plotting of beach profiles and individual presentations
8pm - 9pm Free Time
9pm - 11pm Campfire & Mug-up
11pm Bedtime