Rocks Around the World

[Elf Mommy]

seniorcats wrote:

Thanks, I got your PM. I also have some flint and chert pieces found in the corn field and our garden. Some of these were worked by Indians over 4,000 years ago. They are common to find in this area. I'll try to writea little info to go with each piece.

I'm a thinin' I can also send some lumps of our wnderful Ohio clay. We have a lot which is why so many pottery companies have located here over the centuries.

Will mail after the Christmas rush.

Ann

There's another rock I haven't seen in person before, flint! I'll have to make sure they don't start fires, eh? hehe Clay would be be good, too. We talked about the consistency of sand, silt and clay yesterday.

Elf-Mommy, I used to do a summer program at my kid's school, one year we did science, which included geology. We grew crystals ourselves, the kids were thrilled. I will send you the recipe if you like. All you need is borax, pipecleaners and containers, for one of them, so it's very easy. The other used some more tricky recipe, but still with chemicals you can find at the store. We got some awesome results. I bet your kids would like to do this too (mine were all 1st to 3rd graders, so it's really easy, though you of course will mix the chemicals yourself).

I'd love the recipe! What containers did you use? Do they have to be glass or is plastic ok?

 

[NorthernAutumn]

http://www.crystalgrowing.com/index_e.htm
http://soils.usda.gov/education/resources/k_12/songs/
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/education/squirm/skworm.html
http://soil.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html
http://geology.com/rock-tumbler/
http://infohost.nmt.edu/~earth/rock_kits.html
http://24hours7days.com/Education/Mineral_and_Rock_Kits.html

 

[Hazel-Mom]

A bit easyer for little kids:

The borax crystal recipe: http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_make_Borax_crystal_decorations_to_impress_a/
(we just used big plastic cups instead of glass jars, it worked fine. As long as there's enough space to hang without touching the sides. We also mixed in one big batch, instead of each cup seperately, then poured into cups.)

The other one we did: http://www.instructables.com/id/Salt-Crystal-Garden/
(we used pieces of old sponges and bricks instead of the cardboard roll. Basically anything porous will work. The kids were particularly impressed with this one, although it smells quite a bit while mixing. Mix in a well ventilated place!)

Here's another cute version of the same: http://www.instructables.com/id/Grow-your-own-Magic-Crystal-Tree-or-any-other-sha/

This one is also very easy: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-Epsom-Salt-Crysals/
(though when we tried, it didn't work quite as well as the borax and crystal garden)

And when I talked about soil and dirt, we made this one just for fun :
http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/t--2693/wiggle-worm-dirt-pudding.asp

 

[Elf Mommy]

Thank you both for the great links!!!

I totally forgot about making dirt!!! I will have to do that with them tomorrow right before our Sleeping Bag Book-A-Thon as a treat to eat while they read!

 

[Elf Mommy]

Because I have a Jehovah's Witness in my classroom, I made up little baggies with pudding, green cups, mini Oreos, sour gummy worms, an extra baggy to crush the Oreos in, A spoon and napkin and instructions. I stapled it up and then wrote on the board that they had science homework over the break. Lots of moans at that. I called it a "Soil Experiment." I told them they had to do the experiment and then write up their "Observations" like we've been doing in class with our science and math experiments. I can't wait to hear what they write!

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

Elf Mommy, I may have a little trouble sending rocks just yet as they are all buried under 7 inches of snow . I will most likely have to wait till the spring to send you any.

Sharon

 

[Hazel-Mom]

Elf Mommy wrote:

Because I have a Jehovah's Witness in my classroom, I made up little baggies with pudding, green cups, mini Oreos, sour gummy worms, an extra baggy to crush the Oreos in, A spoon and napkin and instructions. I stapled it up and then wrote on the board that they had science homework over the break. Lots of moans at that. I called it a "Soil Experiment." I told them they had to do the experiment and then write up their "Observations" like we've been doing in class with our science and math experiments. I can't wait to hear what they write!

LOL, that was a great idea, Elf Mommy . Let me know how they liked the "experiment" .
Just out of curiosity.. what's the Jehova's Witness got to do with it? They're not allowed sweets or something?

 

[Elf Mommy]

Well, at first I was going to give it to them as "gifts" and Jehovah's Witnesses can't accept gifts.

I can wait until after the snows. Any time they get here the students will be thrilled to see them!

 

[Elf Mommy]

pamnock wrote:

Minda,

I would love to help out. My house is full of rocks - I collect them from everywhere! I'll gladly send a bag of samples out to you. I had put together kits for my scouts with an info sheet. I have gotten many samples locally as well as off the iternet and includes minerals, ingeous, metamorphic and sedimentary rock. The kits included talc, rose gypsum, quartz, mica, iron ore, pumice, basalt, flint, slag (man made igneous), granite, gneiss, shale, slate, limestone, marble, sandstone, fossil samplesand bituminous coal all in a handy little ziplock bag.

We alsolove shells and Matthew would be very excited to receive one from Florida!

You can PM me the school addy and I'll get the rock/mineralsamples right out to you.

Pam

Pam!!! Your rocks arrived today!!! I was so excited that the secretary and I opened the package right in the office! What you did with the labels is awesome! I can't wait to share them with the kids tomorrow!

I picked up a few shells from the beach in Tampa over Christmas, but I want to grab a few more from a local beach as well, to send to Matthew and you!

Minda