b'EDUCATIONBy Marcia Cunningham and John Gregory OSSGA launches a valuable Riding thenew educational resource for Grade 9 studentsAggregate LifecycleT his is a WONDERFUL resource! said Erin Doak,We were one of the first classes in Ontario to use GIS [Geographic secondaryeducationconsultantattheOttawaInformation Systems] and I was hooked. I wanted to pursue my Catholic SchoolBoard.love of GIS so I ended up in the School of Planning, University of DoakwasgivingherfirstimpressionofWaterloo. I also had a summer job on an asphalt crew in late high OSSGAs new Rocks N Our World educationalschool and university. I even got to see the pit where the company resourceforGrade9.Theresourcehaditsunveilinglastfalldrew its gravel for the roads. The intoxicating mixture of GIS and attheOntarioAssociationforGeographyandEnvironmentasphalt sealed Barretts career in the aggregate industry. Education (OAGEE) Conference at York University, where it wasBy showing the five-step process of the life cycle of a pit or enthusiastically welcomed by geography educators across Ontario. quarry, the new Grade9 resource educates students on how the The final product was the culmination of a year of research,aggregate industry operates within a strict regulatory environment. writing and design. CGC Educational Communications, OSSGAsThe goal of the development process was to marry the story of educationalpartners,beganinterviewingkeypeopleintheaggregate with the curriculum in every possible, creative way, and aggregate industry to find out what they do, what role they playedto integrate careers into the story.in the lifecycle of a pit and/or quarry and why they loved their work. While CGC had previously developed the Grade 4 resourceRESOURCE INTEGRATIONRocks N Our World, having the opportunity to work on a Grade 9The Ontario Ministry of Education sets the curriculumwhat program allowed them to go deeper and showcase careers that areteachers must teach and at what grade level they must teach itbut common to theindustry.it does not prescribe how to teach it or what resources to use. The new OSSGA Grade 9 Rocks N Our World resource is built upon The Grade 9 geography curriculum, says Marcia Cunningham,theseMinistry-directedcurriculumexpectations.Theyserveas apartneratCGCEducationalCommunications,asksstudentsthe platform to transfer knowledge about the aggregate industry. to identify careers in which a geography background might beAnd Grade 9 Geography is a mandated course for all students in an asset so it emphasizes careers as well as the content. It aimsOntariothats about 120,000 young people each year who are tointroducestudentstocareersastheyconductinquiriesintoinfluencers in their households.physical geography.The Ministry prescribes that students engage in inquiries where The Grade 9 Physical Geography course provides the perfecttheybuildtheirownknowledgebyansweringthefollowing window to bring the world of the aggregate industry into Ontarioquestions put to them in the curriculum:classrooms. In fact, in conducting the interviews, CGC learned that many of todays key players in the aggregate industry wereHow do the natural characteristics of Canada influence human sparkedtopursuethesecareersbytheirexperienceinhighactivity,andhowmighthumanactivityinfluenceCanadas schoolgeography. natural characteristics? I owe my career to two geography teachers in high school, says In what ways do Earths natural processes, phenomena and eventsDave Barrett, associate manager, aggregate planning, IBI Group,influence Canadas natural characteristics? 34 AVENUESWINTER 2023'