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Education resources
Education resources – self guided. Free printable resources that cover a range of topics from the formation of our land, land features, and animal life – past and present.
Frequently asked questions
These tiny animals make up our Oamaru Stone. Just how did these sea creatures become limestone – and what do they tell us about the past?
Resources:
Colouring in and fact sheet - VIEW
Video - Oamaru Stone made from Bryozoans - VIEW
Information and activity sheet (The geological story of Oamaru) - VIEW
Image credit: Ruth K Baldwin
The diatom - a fossilised algae and focus of parlour games during Victorian times. So what’s the story with diatoms?
Recourses:
Video – Why are diatoms found in rock when they live in water - VIEW
Video – The story of the Waitaki Diatom - VIEW
Activity sheet – colour in and arrange like a Victorian scientist - VIEW
Information and activity sheet – create your own diatom - VIEW
Diatom images to print, colour and display - VIEW
Visit the Waitaki Museum in Oamaru to learn more about diatoms and have a go at creating your own diatom display on their light table
Image credit: Wayne Barrar
Long ago, the area of Oamaru was under the sea. It was home to volcanic eruptions and ancient sea life.
How did our landscape form, and where did the resources used for building the Whitestone City of the Victorian era come from?
Resources:
Information and activity sheet - VIEW
Oamaru soundscape:
Also see topics bryozoans, diatoms, and volcanoes.
The geologic timescale is a timeline that shows the order of geologic events that have formed our land. It spans millions of years.
Earth scientists can work out how old a rock is by:
Measuring the decay of special elements in a rock (radiometric dating)
Certain fossils in sedimentary rocks
Superposition – younger rocks are on top of older rocks (there are exceptions to this i.e. where rocks are deformed and some igneous rocks)
Resources:
WWG geologic timescale – this shows some special features in our geopark and when they were formed - VIEW
Our story begins with Gondwana, an ancient supercontinent that broke apart into new lands. Zealandia is one of these fragments – the 8th continent of the world, and the foundation of modern New Zealand.
Resources:
Gondwana colouring in puzzle and information sheet - VIEW
Marine (sea) fossils of international significance have been found in the rocks of the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark. Learn more about the ancient world they lived in and where to see casts and displays of our prehistoric sea life.
Resources
Information sheet - VIEW
Also see topics ‘bryozoans’, ‘Diatoms’, and ‘Geology of Oamaru’
Formed by ancient lake and rivers, the gravels and sand have been pushed up by the active Ostler Fault to form cliffs.
Resources:
Information sheet - VIEW
The plesiosaur – a huge creature that lived in our seas around 70 million years ago. Plesiosaurs died out with the dinosaurs around 66 million years ago. A plesiosaur fossil was discovered in the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark and you can see this in the Otago Museum.
Resources:
Rocks that make up the earth’s crust are categorised into three different rock types – sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous. Each rock type is formed in a different way. Learn more here and become a rock detective.
Resources:
Information sheets - currently under development
Remnants of ancient volcanoes can be seen along the coastal section of the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark. But when did they erupt, and what kind of volcanos were they?
Resources:
Braided rivers not only flow from the mountains to the sea, but can sweep across their floodplain – their active channels changing with flooding and sediment buildup. Learn more about some of the features of our very special Waitaki River.
Resources:
Information sheet - VIEW