[meteorite-list] Meteorites and Kids
From: Dave Schultz <dls1955_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:53:59 2004 Message-ID: <OE68L0fljdrOpzdPEtD0001fc67_at_hotmail.com> This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_002A_01C1ABD5.A6C078E0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Great story Walter! I really enjoyed it! Dave=20 ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Walter Branch=20 To: Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com=20 Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2002 7:02 AM Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteorites and Kids Hello Everyone, I recently had the chance to talk about meteorites to six classes of = third grade students, something which I enjoy very much. If you have not = done this and you get the opportunity, I would encourage you to do so. = It is really a lot of fun. Let me share a few of my observations. Kids love the big heavy irons, bring at least one but make sure it is = a solid piece. They can pass it around but if it is a rust flaky Nantan, = for example, they will manage to peel off some lose rust spots and it is = kind of embarrassing to the presenter. Also do not let them handle a = Sikhote-Alin shrapnel piece. Some shrapnel have VERY sharp edges which = can easily cut small hands, which would also be embarrassing to the = presenter. I like to bring a large piece of quartz crystal with me to make a nice = contrast between a nice fusion crusted stone and terrestrial rocks and = minerals. Some kids, though, will be as interested if not more = interested in the quartz. The children were very much aware of the monetary value of meteorites. = A girl asked how much I would offer her if she found a meteorite from = the moon and I jokingly responded, "well, at least $10.00." The kids got = the joke because they knew it would be worth much more than that. A few = kids focused almost exclusively on the monetary value of meteorites = ("how is that one worth, etc."). I bring along several books with nice pictures of meteorites to = augment the presentation and my homemade "Magnet on a Stick" (actually, = a big dowel rod). My wife teaches third grade language arts and in her = class, a girl had brought in her rock collection for me to examine to = determine if any were meteorites. For now, lets call her the "Rock = Girl." I talked about the properties of meteorites and I demonstrated they = are attracted to a magnet and earth rocks are not. There are some = terrestrial exceptions but I figured why complicate matters by pointing = out the rare exceptions. Rock girl brings a metallic looking rock = towards me, I hold the magnet on a stick out to her, she places it on = the magnet and low and behold, IT STICKS. Silence fell over the room and the little girl had a grin that = stretched from ear to ear. Simultaneously, my eyes open, my mouth drops = and I hurriedly bring the object closer for inspection. After years of = working with meteorites, I immediately knew what it was... Hematite :-( Okay, now I back peddle a little and explain that there ARE some earth = rocks that kinda look like meteorites and will stick to a magnet and = HEMATITE is one (you can see an example of this great meteorwrong on my = website). South Georgia is not known for large quantities of hematite = but I failed to ask her immediately where she obtained her sample. My = mistake. A little while latter I show the kids three large perfectly formed = tektites: a dumbbell, a disk, and a teardrop. I explain the differences = between meteorites and tektites, I let the kids hold them, and all of a = sudden the Rock Girl says, "I have one of those." She pulls a black = glassy object from a box on her desk and hands it to me. I look at the = top surface and recognize it immediately... It's a tektite! Now, you have to understand my excitement at this point. The Georgia = Tektite strewn field is about four or five counties west of the school. = As far as I know, no Georgia tektite has ever been found in Bryan = County, which is where the little girl lives. I looked over at my wife = and after seeing literally dozens of kg of tektites even she recognized = it as a probable tektite. I began thinking that the Georgia strewn field = has just now been greatly extended when I turned it over and my heart = sank. The other side was very smooth and concave, as if it were once part of = the interior of a larger object and was part of a gas bubble. It was a Chinese tektite. Exactly like my presentation pieces and = exactly like the dozens of kg I have sold in the past. I then asked the = girl how she obtained her rock collection and she showed me her = collection box with nice glossy printed cards. The tektite (and = hematite) were part of a set that her father had purchased. = Unfortunately, there were no meteorites in the set but she did have the = beginnings of a very nice rock collection. This reminded me that about four years ago, one boy brought me a = glassy object that looked like it might be a tektite. I sent it to Bill = Glass but the microprobe analysis showed that it was not.=20 I showed a large slice of Allende and I casually asked if anyone could = tell me waht the large white spots were. After only a few hints, a = teacher correctly guessed calcium (as wel as other elements). Her = students were very impressed! Again, if you get the chance to present to kids, please consider doing = so. It's a lot of fun and the kids are really interested in the stories = with some meteorites such as El Hammami, Beaver, Canyon Diablo, Claxton, = Peekskill, Cape York, etc. Best wishes, -Walter=20 ----------------------------------------------- Walter Branch, Ph.D. Branch Meteorites 322 Stephenson Ave., Suite B Savannah, GA 31405 USA www.branchmeteorites.com ------=_NextPart_000_002A_01C1ABD5.A6C078E0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Great story Walter! I really enjoyed = it! Dave=20 </FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE=20 style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: = 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV=20 style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B>=20 <A href=3D"mailto:waltbranch_at_earthlink.net"=20 title=3Dwaltbranch_at_earthlink.net>Walter Branch</A> </DIV> <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A=20 href=3D"mailto:Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com"=20 = title=3DMeteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>Meteorite-list@meteoritecentr= al.com</A>=20 </DIV> <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, February 02, = 2002 7:02=20 AM</DIV> <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [meteorite-list] = Meteorites and=20 Kids</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2> <P>Hello Everyone,</P> <P>I recently had the chance to talk about meteorites to six classes = of third=20 grade students, something which I enjoy very much. If you have not = done this=20 and you get the opportunity, I would encourage you to do so. It is = really a=20 lot of fun. Let me share a few of my observations.</P> <P>Kids love the big heavy irons, bring at least one but make sure it = is a=20 solid piece. They can pass it around but if it is a rust flaky Nantan, = for=20 example, they will manage to peel off some lose rust spots and it is = kind of=20 embarrassing to the presenter. Also do not let them handle a = Sikhote-Alin=20 shrapnel piece. Some shrapnel have VERY sharp edges which can easily = cut small=20 hands, which would also be embarrassing to the presenter.</P> <P>I like to bring a large piece of quartz crystal with me to make a = nice=20 contrast between a nice fusion crusted stone and terrestrial rocks and = minerals. Some kids, though, will be as interested if not more=20 interested in the quartz.</P> <P>The children were very much aware of the monetary value of = meteorites. A=20 girl asked how much I would offer her if she found a meteorite from = the moon=20 and I jokingly responded, "well, at least $10.00." The kids got the = joke=20 because they knew it would be worth much more than that. A few kids = focused=20 almost exclusively on the monetary value of meteorites ("how is that = one=20 worth, etc.").</P> <P>I bring along several books with nice pictures of meteorites to = augment the=20 presentation and my homemade "Magnet on a Stick" (actually, a big = dowel rod).=20 My wife teaches third grade language arts and in her class, a girl had = brought=20 in her rock collection for me to examine to determine if any were = meteorites.=20 For now, lets call her the "Rock Girl."</P> <P>I talked about the properties of meteorites and I demonstrated they = are=20 attracted to a magnet and earth rocks are not. There are some = terrestrial=20 exceptions but I figured why complicate matters by pointing out the = rare=20 exceptions. Rock girl brings a metallic looking rock towards me, I = hold the=20 magnet on a stick out to her, she places it on the magnet and low and = behold,=20 IT STICKS.</P> <P>Silence fell over the room and the little girl had a grin that = stretched=20 from ear to ear. Simultaneously, my eyes open, my mouth drops and I = hurriedly=20 bring the object closer for inspection. After years of working with=20 meteorites, I immediately knew what it was...</P> <P>Hematite :-(</P> <P>Okay, now I back peddle a little and explain that there ARE some = earth=20 rocks that kinda look like meteorites and will stick to a magnet and = HEMATITE=20 is one (you can see an example of this great meteorwrong on my = website). South=20 Georgia is not known for large quantities of hematite but I failed to = ask her=20 immediately where she obtained her sample. My mistake.</P> <P>A little while latter I show the kids three large perfectly formed=20 tektites: a dumbbell, a disk, and a teardrop. I explain the = differences=20 between meteorites and tektites, I let the kids hold them, and all of = a sudden=20 the Rock Girl says, "I have one of those." She pulls a black glassy = object=20 from a box on her desk and hands it to me. I look at the top surface = and=20 recognize it immediately...</P> <P>It's a tektite!</P> <P>Now, you have to understand my excitement at this point. The = Georgia=20 Tektite strewn field is about four or five counties west of the = school. As far=20 as I know, no Georgia tektite has ever been found in Bryan County, = which is=20 where the little girl lives. I looked over at my wife and after seeing = literally dozens of kg of tektites even she recognized it as a = probable=20 tektite. I began thinking that the Georgia strewn field has just now = been=20 greatly extended when I turned it over and my heart sank.</P> <P>The other side was very smooth and concave, as if it were once part = of the=20 interior of a larger object and was part of a gas bubble.</P> <P>It was a Chinese tektite. Exactly like my presentation pieces and = exactly=20 like the dozens of kg I have sold in the past. I then asked the girl = how she=20 obtained her rock collection and she showed me her collection box with = nice=20 glossy printed cards. The tektite (and hematite) were part of a set = that her=20 father had purchased. Unfortunately, there were no meteorites in the = set but=20 she did have the beginnings of a very nice rock collection.</P> <P>This reminded me that about four years ago, one boy brought me a = glassy=20 object that looked like it might be a tektite. I sent it to Bill Glass = but the=20 microprobe analysis showed that it was not. </P> <P>I showed a large slice of Allende and I casually asked if anyone = could tell=20 me waht the large white spots were. After only a few hints, a = teacher=20 correctly guessed calcium (as wel as other elements). Her = students were=20 very impressed!</P> <P>Again, if you get the chance to present to kids, please consider = doing so.=20 It's a lot of fun and the kids are really interested in the stories = with some=20 meteorites such as El Hammami, Beaver, Canyon Diablo, Claxton, = Peekskill, Cape=20 York, etc.</P> <P>Best wishes,</P> <P>-Walter </P></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial=20 size=3D2><BR>-----------------------------------------------<BR>Walter = Branch,=20 Ph.D.<BR>Branch Meteorites<BR>322 Stephenson Ave., Suite = B<BR>Savannah,=20 GA 31405 USA<BR><A=20 = href=3D"http://www.branchmeteorites.com">www.branchmeteorites.com</A></FO= NT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_002A_01C1ABD5.A6C078E0-- Received on Sat 02 Feb 2002 11:37:45 AM PST |
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