The work is in teams and the result is assessed as a team. Success depends on accurate observation and recording by each member of the team and achieving a team consensus on the interpretation. Most students gain an insight into three dimensional thinking in this exercise and learn a great deal about working in a team in a very short time period. Mapping in mineworkings, both surface and underground, has considerable advantages in enabling the student to appreciate the three-dimensional nature of geology.
Students work in teams of four or five.
The teams select themselves and thus the make up is social rather than related to geological interest or ability. The team is given a map and section which shows only lines on the National Grid and the locations of a number of stations which have been surveyed on the Grid. The task is to observe and record the geology in a vertical plane which passes north-south through the mineworkings at an easting shown on the map. There are four exposed parts of the section which cannot be seen from each other and thus simple surveying methods are necessary to locate the position of the section in the workings. The team is asked to produce an interpretation of the geology on the section.