Hello, Ventura County Educator! This is the first “newsletter” to try to get everyone in on what is available to you to help teach the sciences to the youth of Ventura County.

 

The first thing that I have is a packet that I came across at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show last week. If you are not familiar with Tucson it is the premier show in the world. They have limited displays but they are the “cream of the crop” among the world’s gems and minerals, such as two large cases from the Smithsonian and since the theme this year was Australian Minerals, their counterpart on that continent. It is the center of world trade in gems and minerals with outlying trade shows that produce multi-million dollar deals every day. While we were there Tucson police broke up a ring selling “blood diamonds” out of the local Motel 6 and confiscated $2 million in rough diamonds.  I will try to remember to attach a picture of a single quartz crystal that was sitting out in front of one of the motels that is as big as my kitchen table. But I digress!

 

The American Geological Institute (AGI) puts out this Earth Science Week Kit. This year Earth Science Week will be (2007) October 14-20. The kits will be available in Sept. There is a cost of $5.  ($3.00 if 100 are ordered) I will see if I can drum up a sponsor for a hundred or so, depending on interest, before Sept. The kit for 2006 contained:

  • A 12-month school-year activity calendar, suitable for hanging
  • A new Earth Science Week poster, including an activity
  • Up-to-date fact sheets and other materials from the USGS
  • A park-views DVD from the National Park Service
  • A climate-change booklet from NOAA
  • An Earth science education brochure and more from NASA
  • Posters from Scholastic, IRIS, and EarthScope
  • A GeoCaching pamphlet from Geological Society of America
  • An Earth science CD from ESRI
  • Other citizen-science materials for classroom and home use

The material, as you can see is from government agencies and more. The posters alone were worth the $5 not even counting the CD’s. I will buy the kits for 2006 and 2004 that are still available and have them available at the Science Fair in April in the Gem & Mineral Booth so we can all look them over. They have some interesting things. If you want to participate in any “Earth Week” activities, let me know. We will find you speakers, get you some patches and get you some news coverage.  Here is their website. Check it out for yourself!

 http://www.earthsciweek.org/materials/index.html 

 

Here is a web page you can check out also, especially if you have a section on astronomy. Print these pictures out for the kids and you will surely see interest from them on this one!

 

Astronomers Select Top Ten Most Amazing Pictures Taken by Hubble Space
Telescope in Last 16 Years.  After correcting an initial problem with the lens, when the Hubble Space Telescope was first launched in 1990, the floating astro-observatory began to relay back to Earth, incredible snapshots of the "final frontier" it was perusing. Recently, Astronomers voted on the top photographs taken by Hubble, in its 16-year journey so far. Remarking in the article from the Daily Mail, reporter Michael Hanlon says the photos "illustrate that our universe is not only deeply strange, but also almost impossibly beautiful."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/legacygallery/gallery-9139/Hubble--The-amazing-space-photographs-universe.html   (top 10 Hubble Pictures)

 

Now, for some information that will get you “hands on” some science! The Ventura Gem & Mineral Show will be at their usual fairground location on March 3 & 4th.  It will be open 10:00 to 5:00 on Saturday and 10:00 to 4:00 on Sunday. Remember admission is always free although there is a fee for parking.

 

Remember to bring your teacher I. D. for your samples! Teacher samples will be:

Mahogany Obsidian-- That is the reddish-brown swirled in black obsidian, about 60 pieces are available. This can be a supplement to the obsidian in the Earth Science kit that has black obsidian.

Lapidolite (Mica) – This is an uncommon mica that is a beautiful lavender color, with small flat crystals. It is a source for the lithium used in batteries and in medicines and found in the tourmaline mines here in California. There are about 60 pieces available.

Oklahoma Red Granite—This sample is back for an encore from the Oxnard Show. This is the beautiful red and pink granite that is from the roots of the second oldest mountain range on our continent. The mountains are now just hills in Southwest Oklahoma. This may appear on the top of a counter near you! One side of most pieces is even polished!  There are 24 pieces available now but may be up to 50 by show time. This can be a supplement to the black & white sierra granite in the Earth Science Kit.

White Quartz—This is the massive variety of quartz. Some has a pinkish tint, but not enough to be classed as rose quartz. This is from a pegmatite in the tourmaline area (called Pala) north and east of San Diego. Quartz is the second most common mineral (after feldspar) in the continental crust and a common constituent in many rocks (like granite). The window glass in your classroom is mostly quartz as well as the sand on our beaches. Again, about 60 pieces are available.

All 4 samples have an accompanying information sheet.

 

The especially educational displays for the show will include the Brace-Thompson case with “The California Display”. If you are not acquainted with ”smilodon”, you can get to know him! Smilodon is our state fossil. The display also has the state gem, Benitoite, named after San Benito County, one of the rare localities where it is found. Specimens at the Tucson show with just one benitoite crystal sold for over a thousand dollars, so this case may be your best chance to see it. Also present, is a sample of our state mineral, gold, which is always impressive.

 

There will be a florescent display also. If you haven’t seen these rocks that glow under different light wave-lengths this will be a treat. The colors are beautiful. 

 

Larry and I will be there with the Earth Science Kit displayed. If you have any questions or comments, come by and talk to us. I already have several improvements for the next set of printed materials, which came from you. Thanks!

 

There will be plenty of minerals, lapidary (worked stones), silverwork and fossil displays. Ventura Club is famous for their collections of fossils. If you have ever thought of doing silverwork, bead making etc. this is a good time to learn. There will be demonstrators who will be glad to teach you. Dealers will be there with jewelry, fossils and all kinds of rocks and probably a meteorite or two.

 

For the kids there is a lot to see and do.  Upon entering the show, kids will get to pick out a free tumble-polished stone from a Treasure Chest, and they'll be given a packet with coloring pages, a geology word game, a sheet with info about the state rock, fossil, gem, and mineral, and a "Rock Talk" quiz.  They'll find answers to the quiz questions in the displays throughout the exhibit hall and by visiting the lapidary artists at the back of the hall.  Kids can turn in their completed quiz at the Kids Booth to get one free spin on the Spinning Wheel to earn another free rock or fossil.  The club will also provide 2 "Walk-Abouts" each day, at noon and at 2:00 PM, where a VGMS member will take groups of kids through the exhibits to show them featured cases and to answer questions kids may have about material on display.  Finally, we'll also be holding a kids-only raffle to win one of 4 collections of California rocks, minerals, and fossils. Kids will also find the club’s usual activities in the form of the Spinning Wheel for rock prizes, sand-sifting for tumbled stones, grab bags, making fossil casts with plaster, and a free coloring station to color pictures of minerals. The rock bags are always popular with a variety of rocks and an arrowhead or sharks tooth. Several of the kid’s activities are free, none cost over a dollar.

 

That pretty well takes care of the show. I have only one more thing. (I hear sighs of relief). There has been some discussion about “specialty” boxes. These would take on one subject and go much more in depth with it. Ten kits have been outlined such as “Minerals”, “Fossils”, “Earthquakes”, “Volcanoes”, “Caves”, “Planetary Geology” and “Rocks and Minerals Around the Home” to name a few.

 

For a sample of a box, the “Earthquake” box might contain—Calif. Fault map, sample diagrams of fault boundary types, pictures of faults and results, posters explaining plate boundaries and subduction zones, samples of rock types changed by the heat and pressure of a fault, activities and demonstrations,” What will happen in an earthquake? exercise, precautionary list to check your home and school, Home emergency supply list and a “What would you take if you had 10 minutes to leave your home activity?”.

 

We are trying to determine if these kits would be used in the classroom enough to justify the expensive components involved.  

 

Would you use them in your classroom?

Would you go to a library in your town to check them out or only if they were brought to your classroom?

What kind of kits could you use that relate to Earth Sciences?

Does your school system have a central location that could store and issue the kits?

Scouts have already volunteered to take care of and issue their kits and given us a list of areas to cover for inclusion. Be proactive—tell us what you need to better teach the kids! What kinds of kits should we be considering?

 

 If you have anything to share in this newsletter, a website, an activity, anything, let me know!