Teacher guides for "Virtual Field Trips"

to geological sites around the Boston area

We created this site to help students learn about some of the very cool geology right here in the Boston area.

The Boston area holds a history of hundreds of millions of years of changing continents and climate. That history is recorded in the rocks, quite literally under our feet. Much of that history is hidden under the soil, but there are several places where the story is revealed. Each star below links to a location where you can see outcroppings of exposed rock or other geologic features that help us piece together the story of how the Boston area formed and has changed over the past 600 million years.

We suggest strongly that before you have your students embark on these "field trips", that you try to go yourself to these locations and study them. It is important to try to get some rock samples (Do not use a rock hammer where it is not allowed! Most sites have plenty of loose rock samples that you can bring with you.) While we think the pictures we have taken will help students gain a good understanding of the geologic story of these areas, nothing can replace the tactile, 3-D experience of looking at a good rock sample.

For basic instructions about how to get to each location, click here.

To access one of the geologic virtual field trips, click on a location on the map below, or click on the list in the sidebar.