OVERVIEW OF PROVIDENCE CANYON STATE PARKOBJECTIVE/PURPOSEThe purposes of this project are to build K-12 education resources that examine aspects of the geomorphology of Providence Canyon State Park. This includes:

1) Creating interactive learning tools that explore geomorphic principles in ways that relate to middle school Connecticut and Georgia state education standards.

2) Linking lesson plans to learning materials that make use of digital video, aerial photography, virtual walks, fly-through and 360º fisheye imagery built with virtual tour software.

3) Analyzing the impact of people on landscapes and illustrating the importance of land management and conservation.

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DEVELOPING INTERACTIVE K-12 EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES THAT EXAMINE THE

GEOMORPHOLOGY OF PROVIDENCE CANYON STATE PARK, GA. Kristin Schroeder, James A. Hyatt, Environmental Earth Science, Eastern Connecticut State University

CONNECTICUT AND GEORGIA STANDARDS Providence Canyon is an excellent location to examine earth systems and the

results of human-induced landscape change. These are common threads in educational standards set by the states of Georgia and Connecticut (Table 1). In fact, GeorgiaStandards.org already uses PCSP in a Human Impact unit model, which is an approved instructional plan guided by the state mandated educational standards (Figure 6). These standards use math and graphing to represent scientific data, and investigate how the earth’s surface is formed. This includes consideration of the difference between erosion and weathering, concepts that often confuse students and teachers alike.

INTRODUCTION Providence Canyon State Park (PCSP), often called “Georgia’s Little Grand Canyon,” is a prominent example of a human-altered geomorphic system that

reflects extreme erosion within the Fall Line Hills of southwest Georgia (Figure 1). Agricultural practices of nineteenth century settlers initiated and accelerated erosion altering the growth of native vegetation and inadvertently promoting gully development by exposing highly erodible soil on hill tops (Magilligan and Stamp, 1997). This poster presents ongoing efforts to develop K-12 learning exercises that use geomorphological content developed from imagery at PCSP and guided by education standards for Connecticut and Georgia.

Figure 3. Initial gully development exposing the highly erodible ProvidenceFormation sand (image from PCSP).

Figure 4. Conservationists planting trees to control erosion in the 1930’s (image from PCSP).

Figure 6. GeorgiaStandards.org human impact unit

Table 1. Mandated educational standards for Georgia and Connecticut.

Figure 2. Poor farming practices of the mid-nineteenth century, such as the use of row crop agriculture, resulted in the clearing of more than 60% of Stewart County (image from PCSP).

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Providence Canyon State Park, founded in 1971 as a site of geologic and historical interest, provides anideal venue for examining the geomorphology of land use driven erosion, sedimentation, and landscape development. This spectacular series of canyons was initiated by deforestation and poor farming practices in a geologically sensitive region (Figure 2). Providence Sands are easily eroded once the overlying resistant Clayton Formation is breached (Figure 3). Regional factors accelerate the weathering and erosion of these geologic materials including large annual rainfall totals, a warm moist climate, and a high frequency of intense storms that occur during transitional land-clearing periods (Magilligan and Stamp, 1997). As a result, steep sided gullies developed, capped by the remains of the iron-rich, resistant Clayton Formation. Researchers have investigated the rate of land response to agricultural activities, interactions between land surface and water (Magilliagn and Stamp, 1997) and sedimentary records of recent change (Hyatt and Gilbert, 2000). Magilligan and Stamp (1997) found that it only took 30 years of poor agricultural practices to cause significant canyon formation. Landscape recovery has occurred since the 1930’s due to improved land management practices, and reforestation by the Civilian Conservation Corps (Figure 4). Providence Canyon continues to erode, and visitors travel from all parts of the nation to experience the dramatic colors, interesting wildlife and unique landscape of this unlikely canyon area (Figure 5).

Figure 1. Panoramic view of Providence Canyon State Park revealing easily eroded Cretaceous-aged Providence Sands (white) and the overlying resistant Clayton Formation (red).