November 9, 2018
This Friday we collected data on the students’ birthday months and determined corresponding birthstones. Students could then study gems and minerals available for viewing in our lab, followed by a step-by-step process of identifying their own rock (including weighting, measuring length, checking for magnetism, doing a streak and Mohr scale tests, and looking for metallic luster.) Students reviewed knowledge about the formation of rocks (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic) and the ever-changing Earth’s surface by participating in a hands-on erosion experiment.
Play: Start your own rock collection at home.
Visit: Visit Academy of Science’s Gems and Minerals exhibit. Other great museums to consider are Natural History Museum of LA County, California State Mining and Mineral Museum, and Harvard Museum of Natural History.
Visit: Many caves, mountains, and deserts of the region to learn about the geology of California and beyond.
Look: Beautiful photos of the mineral collection available from Stanford School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Science.
Thank you to all the amazing parents who made this lab possible.
Image by Anya Bosina.