Ana Rola 1 , Elsa Gomes 2 , Luís Gama Pereira 1
& Celeste R. Gomes 1,3
1 CGUC, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal
2 Geosciences Centre, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal
3 Corresponding Author: romualdo@dct.uc.pt

Objectives:
To construct a virtual field class in the Mountain of
Lousã, Central Portugal
To assess the resources
Activity planned for 11th grade students, to teach magmatic and metamorphic processes

Document analysis
Field work
Laboratory work; study of collected rocks hand samples; thin sections analysis using a polarizing microscope
Preparation of schemes and simplified geological maps
Construction of the materials
Validation by secondary education teachers
Reformulation of materials

Nine teachers answered to two open-ended questions:
1) Please, give your opinion about the teaching materials
(strong and weak aspects, its importance in teaching, suggestions).
2) Would you use the teaching materials in a geology class? Please, justify.
The answers were subjected to content analysis

Conceptual scheme of the study

N
500 m
Beiras Group
Granite of Coentral
Legend
Contact metamorphic rocks
Dolerite
Rhyolite porphyry
Granite of Coentral
Beiras Group: Boque-Serpins
Formation
Beiras Group: Caneiro Formation
Probable fault
Fault

of schemes
Sketch of the tectonic context of the region between Coimbra and
Lousã Mountains
Satellite image obtained from Google Earth ®

A
of schemes
B
Contact between hornfels and granite
A – Photograph without interpretation
B – Photograph with interpretation

A
of schemes
B
Mottled phyllites, thin section (CO-46), viewed using a stereoscope, magnification 1x. Variscan cleavage deflected around the porphyroblasts
A - Photograph without interpretation
B - Photograph with interpretation

A
B
Geological map of the Coentral region
A - Original geological map
B - Simplified geological map

 Preparation phase: video
 Field class: field guide
 Synthesis phase: discussion topics, paper and pencil activities for the summary phase
 Others: glossary, information about lithologies, pictures, simplified geological maps, schemes
Available in an electronic site https://sites.google.com/site/louzanrocks/home

 The resources were distributed by e-mail and assessed by
9 teachers (anonymous)
 All the participants agreed with the structure of the virtual class and with the resources
 The resources allows the accomplishment of this type of activity without leaving the school
 The field guide was redesigned and improved based on the identified weaker points

 The virtual field class consists of three phases: preparation, field class and summary
 The methodology involved documental analysis, fieldwork, laboratory work, pictorial representation and geological map simplification
 The resources were made available in an electronic site
 Nine teachers validated all the resources and agreed to use them in their classes

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Coimbra
CGUC and Geosciences Centre are publicly funded through FCT - Foundation for Science and
Technology