Part Two: Minerals & Earth Resources
via CFMS Newsletter 3/2005
In my February column, I noted how today's kids are "wired-to-learn" via computers, the Internet, and the Google search engine. To help youth leaders capitalize on this now-natural proclivity of today's kids, this month's column is Part Two in a four-part series to provide annotated listings of Web sites organized around various aspects of the rock-hounding hobby. Last month, it was fossils. This month: minerals and earth resources. Here are a few helpful sites to check out:
United States Geological Survey - www.usgs.gov
This is the official web site of the United States Geological Survey. Go to their "Education" section. They have a nice link to the "Earth Science Information Center" where experts will answer kids' earth science questions via the:
U.S.G.S. education web site - www.usgs.gov/education/
UCSB - www.geol.ucsb.edu/L2/Outreach-FR.html
Geology departments at universities are wonderful resources. Some have community outreach programs and will send professors into the classroom and/or lead group tours of university collections by advance arrangement. One such department is at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which also has a wonderful on-line display of their Bancroft Mineral Collection that provides a photo of each mineral in the collection with information about locality, chemical composition, and so forth.
Mineral Information Institute - www.mii.org
Women in Mining - www.womeninmining.org
The web sites of the Mineral Information Institute and the Women in Mining organization both provide a wealth of information and resources on minerals, uses of minerals in everyday life, and careers in the earth sciences. Both also offer links to other interesting earth science sites.
Crystal Shapes -
www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/1410/mobile.html
A terrific, hands-on way to illustrate crystal shapes is by making models by folding colorful construction paper, cardstock, or thin cardboard and pasting or taping them together. Cut-out patterns for making such models may be found on this web site.
Growing Crystals -
www.amfed.org/kids_links.htm#crystals
After learning about crystal shapes in the previous web site, this link on the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies site takes you to sites providing recipes and instructions for growing crystals.
Friends of Mineralogy - www.friendsofmineralogy.org>
Friends of Mineralogy promotes, supports, and protects the collection of minerals and works to further the recognition of the scientific, economic, and aesthetic value of minerals and mineral collecting. Their web site contains past newsletters and links to the Mineralogical Society of America, the American Geological Institute, the web site of Rocks & Minerals magazine and the Mineralogical Record, and others.
Mineral Gallery - www.theimage.com
This web site allows you to wander through a Mineral Gallery of gorgeous gemstones to learn about the chemical properties of nearly 200 different types of minerals.
As with the sites I shared last month, these sites scratch just the surface of what's out there. You can make this into a fun activity for your juniors by encouraging them to surf the Web themselves for interesting mineral sites and having them share and report on what they find with their fellow members at your next meeting. Let's capitalize on the tools today's kids use for learning while-as always-having fun!
Part Three: Lapidary Arts
via CFMS Newsletter 4/2005
In my February and March columns, I noted how today's kids are "wired-to-learn" via computers, the Internet, and the Google search engine. To help youth leaders capitalize on this now-natural proclivity of today's kids, I present Part Three in a 4-part series to provide annotated listings of Web sites organized around various aspects of the rock-hounding hobby. So far, we've covered fossils and minerals. This month: lapidary arts. Here are a few helpful sites to check out:
CFMS Web Page - www.cfmsinc.org - You are there!
Check under "Manuals," then "CFMS Slide & Video Program," and finally "Video Program Listing" for several how-to video programs available through the CFMS on everything from wire-wrapping to intarsia, soapstone carving, beading for beginners, lost wax casting, opal cutting, cabochon cutting, electroplating, enameling, faceting, and more.
Bob's Rock Shop - www.rockhounds.com
First brought on-line in 1995, "Bob's Rock Shop" is the Internet's first 'Zine (or on-line magazine) for rockhounds. This is a non-commercial site has teamed with Rock & Gem magazine to provide a first-class resource on topical information and connectivity for hobbyists. It includes excellent reference lists of books on all aspects of lapidary arts.
Gemological Institute of America - www.gia.edu
This is the official website of the Gemological Institute of America, perhaps the world's foremost authority in gemology. You can learn about GIA courses, browse and shop for gemology instruments and books, and stay up-to-date on diamond and gemstone news and research.
Introduction to Faceting -
http://www.theimage.com
This site includes an "Introduction to Faceting" guide with over 20 pages on the craft of faceting: its history, equipment, terminology, materials, and an abbreviated step-by-step guide.
Lessons on Gems & Gem Materials - www.socrates.berkeley.edu/~eps2/
Together with Hanna Cook-Wallace (a professional gemologist with a jewelry studio in Madison, Wisconsin), Jill Banfield of the UC-Berkeley Department of Earth & Planetary Science provides lessons on Gems & Gem Materials from an on-line course she offers. This is a terrific web site, packed with useful lapidary info.
Jewelry Trade - www.tradeshop.com/gems/
These web pages provide a comprehensive introduction to gemology and the lapidary arts for the general public and a handy resource for the jewelry trade.
As with the sites I shared last month, these sites scratch just the surface of what's out there. You can make this into a fun activity for your juniors by encouraging them to surf the Web themselves for interesting sites related to the lapidary arts and having them share and report on what they find with their fellow members at your next meeting. Let's capitalize on the tools today's kids use for learning while-as always-having fun!
Surfing the Web, Part Four: Museums
By Jim Brace-Thompson, Juniors Activities Chair
via CFMS Newsletter 5/2005
In my fourth and final column on using the web to tap into the interest of today's computer-connected kids, I provide annotated listings of Web sites for natural history museums. Museums are wonderful resources and make for great field trip destinations with kids. Unfortunately, not all of us are conveniently located close to a museum. The Web circumvents this problem, and today, pretty much every major museum - and most smaller, regional museums - offer a glimpse of their collections on-line, combined with additional educational resources and links. For instance, just a few seconds after typing "Natural History Museums" into the Google search engine, I found a long list of sites. I explore just a few for this month's column. Each offers excellent listings of other museums, complete with links that take you to them.
www.lib.washington.edu/sla/natmus.html
An "Education Index Top Site," here you'll find direct links to local and regional museums, large and small museums, and university collections across the U.S. and around the world. One of the most comprehensive collections of museum links I've seen!
ww.ucmp.berkeley.edu
The University of California, Berkeley, Museum of Paleontology is a research museum not open to the general public - except through this web site. Links allow you to explore the museum collections, enter a "paleoportal," and learn about exhibits and education on the history of life.
Paleo.cc/kpaleo/museums.htm
"Kuban's Guide to Natural History Museums on the Web" features annotated links to the larger, more famous museums and virtual museums that feature displays of fossils, paleontology, and related subjects.
www.clpgh.org/cmnh/exhibits/hillman/index.html
Visit dinosaur exhibits and the Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.
:www.rom.on.ca
The Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto, Canada, is a true treasure from our neighbors of the North.
http:www.mnh.si.edu/earth
"The Dynamic Earth" gives you an inside look at geology exhibits at Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History as well as info on geological processes. For instance, see how caves form or how minerals precipitate and change under heat and pressure.
www.amnh.org/education/resources
Online activities and resources are available through the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Lesson are written for primary through high school levels (and divided by grade levels) in five areas, including Earth Science, Paleontology, and Astronomy. You'll find 17 lessons on Minerals, 6 on Meteorites, and more than 25 on various aspects of Paleontology.
Museums are terrific places to take kids for "indoor field trips," but if the nearest museum is too far away, distance need not preclude a visit. Take your kids on a "virtual" field trip. The furthest museum is now just a mouse click away! As with the sites I shared last month, these sites scratch just the surface of what's out there. Make this into an activity for your juniors by exploring one museum's web site as a group and then encouraging them to surf the Web for interesting museum sites and having them share what they find with their fellow members at your next meeting. Let's capitalize on the tools today's kids use for learning while-as always-having fun!