DESIGNING CAMPUS LANDSCAPING AS A GEOSCIENCE LABORATORY: FORT LEWIS COLLEGE'S "WALK THROUGH TIME"

In 1990, the Fort Lewis College Geosciences Department (then the Geology Department) conceived a "Walk through Time" project incorporating boulders representative of the local geology into campus landscaping. While many geoscience programs have laboratories that make use of campus landscape rocks or building materials, the intent of this project was to bring samples of the entire local stratigraphic section to campus. After a 10 year wait for funding, the project was eventually realized in the summer of 2000.

Boulders ranging from one to 20 tons and representing 25 geologic formations were placed on a hill in chronologic order. Rocks were chosen on the basis of: 1) representativeness of the local section, 2) appropriate size, 3) location on public land, and 4) accessibility. A few lithologic units, particularly shales, could not be included.

The Fort Lewis College "Walk through Time" is used as an easy "field trip" when weather, time, or vehicle costs preclude going to the field. It has become a regular part of the curricula of Earth System Science, Physical Geology and Petrology laboratories.