[Rockhounds] Help request

[OnyxCollector at aol.com]

Dear Neal, 
   A man named Jim Brace-Thompson, a member of the Ventura Gem  & Mineral 
Society, and the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies,  has put 
together a rockhound version of the Boy Scout merit badge learning  system that 
works quite well.  Furthermore, his club has taken on the  ambitious project of 
designing, making, and supplying a rock teaching kit to  each school in their 
county.  Whether you followed the Future Rockhounds of  America guidelines or 
went your own way, you would learn a lot by checking out  the FRA and the 
school teaching kits. The Ventura club's website is _www.vgms.org_ 
(http://www.vgms.org)  and you should ask Jim for a copy of  the list of rocks they place in 
their teaching kits - his email is _jbraceth at roadrunner.com_ 
(mailto:jbraceth at roadrunner.com)  . Good luck  and happy hunting!   David
 
 
In a message dated 1/4/2008 9:19:48 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
batsondebelfry at yahoo.com writes:

Hi,

I'm Neal Hazen, and I belong to the same Rock, Gem and  Mineral club as Glenn 
Wimpee. I have been a listmember for quite some time,  but as I'm not a 
mineralogist all I've done is read and learn. And I have  learned! Thanks to you 
folks, my interest in mineralogy has increased  dramatically.  
Week before last, I ran across an article on the Web  about granite 
countertops, and if one's countertop was really made of granite.  This lead to a 
discussion of the feldspars, and other igneous rocks. Well, my  memory is far from 
what it used to be, so I'm having to re-read most of this  material to get it 
to sink in, and stay. But I have good reason to make the  effort. At out last 
gem show, a guest asked me if I would give a geology  presentation to his Cub 
Scouts, to help them on their merit badges. I agreed,  but he hasn't called 
since. Even so, I am a retired school teacher, and the  request reawakened the 
"bug" in me. I would like to put together a teaching  set of rocks and minerals 
to use in giving presentations to the local school  science classes. One of 
the reasons for this, of course, is to get more young  people interested in 
geology and mineralogy. Another reason is to promote  awareness of, and 
appreciation for, the beautiful and useful rocks  and
minerals around us. Along with the rock samples, I'd like to acquire  images 
of the formations these specimens most often occur in.  I am  anticipating 
that the students will be best served if the specimens are about  fist-sized, and 
if there are enough of each type to emphasize the variability  some rocks and 
minerals display. I already have some small examples of gem  variety 
materials that I can use. In such cases, I would cut a cabochon to go  with the rough 
specimen.
I live on a fixed income, so any advice as to  cheap/free sources would be 
most helpful. Please reply offlist to  batsondebelfry at yahoo.com. 
I am especially interested in: andesite, gabbro,  basalt, diorite, porphyry, 
amphibole, granodiorite, anorthosite, pyroxenite,  syenite, gneiss, schist, 
monzonite, syenogranite, monzogranite, and  dacite.
I have a lot to learn, myself, before attempting to teach, but  consider this 
- one salient reason few students go into the geology and  mineralogy fields 
is they have no exposure to it. Here in the south, most of  the rocks are 
covered with large deposits of sand and clay. Kids with ability  take classes in 
either biology, chemistry or physics. The less able students  have a very small 
exposure in their general science classes. Very few science  teachers have 
either the knowledge, or the experience, to make these units  enjoyable.
I also intend to include examples of different products that  contain mined 
components.
Again, any ideas or info you care to share will  be most appreciated.

Yours truly,

Neal Hazen 

"Some  people learn through reading. A few others learn by observation. Most 
of us  have to pee on the electric fence for ourselves."
Will  Rogers


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