The first major concepts to explore with the students is to discuss New Haven, the New Haven Harbor, Lighthouse Point and Morris Creek on maps and to discuss the surficial geology of the central lowland. The following topics to be covered are: bedrock geology, glacial geology, postglacial sediments, erosion, and flow of water. Geological terms are explained in map Number One listed below. Students will locate the Morris Creek and Lighthouse Point Park on maps and aerial photographs Numbers 1-5 below. Materials to be used are:
-
1.
The Surficial Geology of the New Haven and Woodmont Quadrangles with Maps
—Quadrangle Report No. 18 by Richard Foster Flint
-
2.
United States Department of Interior Geological Survey
—Woodmont Quadrangle and New Haven Quadrangle topographic map.
-
3. Nine 30” x 36” Cronoflex(aerial photograph obtained from the Engineers Office, City of New Haven.
-
4. 5 section maps(200 scale) 18” x 24” of Lighthouse Point and the Morris Creek. These were also obtained from the Engineers Office, City of New Haven.
-
5. 3 aerial photographs (1” = 1000 feet) completed for the State of Connecticut in the Spring 1980. Obtained from Aero Graphics Corp., Box 248, Bohemia, N.Y. 11716 $4.00 each.
-
6. Map—
Shoreline Changes
. New Haven and Woodmont Quadrangle. This map was prepared by the Coastal Area Management Program, Connecticut Department of Environment Protection. It can be obtained for $1.50. This is to be used to show the shoreline changes that have occurred along the Lighthouse Point Park area during the past century or more.
Since map reading is a very important skill and an integral part of the sixth grade curriculum, initially two weeks will be spent on the above topics which will also be a continuing part of the unit. The maps and aerial photographs used in Lesson One are available at the Yale-New Haven Teachers institute.
The trips to Lighthouse Point Park and Morris Creek will first explore the area from the groin across the beach over to the seawall and up the Morris Creek to the area across from the marina. During these trips throughout the school year the children will carefully note the periodic accumulation of sand along the beach front, the tide lines and the plant life along the mouth of the creek.
These changes will be noted on the worksheet: “Lighthouse Point Park and Morris Creek” (Figure 7).