[meteorite-list] Meteorites and Kids

From: trandall_at_idsi.net <trandall_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:53:59 2004
Message-ID: <a05100300b881e9660b57_at_[216.91.17.214]>

   Great story Walter and Frank!

I was asked by a pre-school teacher I know to bring in a meteorite
for her class after a little boy picked up a piece of blacktop
outside and asked the teacher if it was a meteorite. She asked me if
it was (knowing it probably wasn't) and I said no, it's not but I can
show you a real meteorite if you want. Well his eyes lit up and the
teacher then asked if I'd bring one in. Well, imagine 15-20 3-4 year
olds sitting in a circle as I walk in with a 154 gram Canyon Diablo.
Since their too young for the technical talk I told them it was a
meteorite and that it came from Outer space, their little eyes just
lit right up and they started oohing and Ahhing as I sat down and
handed it to a little girl. They notice (like adults) the weight
right away. They asked pretty good questions for such a young bunch,
things like "it came from space?", "How did it get here?", "Why is it
so heavy?". It's really a TON of fun showing kids meteorites, adults
too for that matter.

Although I'm not a dealer in meteorites, just a collector it's fun to
educate the young and old about them. I think we did this thread
awhile back but it's always great to read stories like these.

Regards,

Tom Randall
IMCA #6170


>Hi Walter and all,
>
>Last year I also presented to a class of third graders and thought I'd share
>a great way to get the class's attention (as if that is needed). Getting
>ready for the presentation, I laid the meteorites out on a metal side table
>which the teacher provided. Knowing that part of my talk was on how to
>identify meteorites from terrestrial rocks, I obviously bought along a rare
>earth magnet. A flash of genius struck ;-)
>Holding tightly, I carefully put my rare earth magnet on the metal table.
>(You probably know where I'm going). During the talk I asked young "Billy"
>to come up and help me demonstrate that meteorites were magnetic. It was his
>birthday and being a larger third grade boy made it all the better. I held a
>small Canyon Diablo iron and asked him to pick up the magnet and show the
>class how it stuck to the meteorite. Young "Billy" reached for the magnet
>and......obviously wasn't able to move it, try as he might. Both he and the
>class got a good laugh and the class paid even more attention than they
>might have.
>The third graders were a great age group to share our love of meteorites
>with. Their minds were sponges, soaking up every bit of knowledge there was,
>they were interested in and liked learning, and they were studying the solar
>system. A perfect audience.
>A few days later, I received a package containing letters from every one of
>the students. I still have them, and hopefully they also still have their
>small, weathered piece of the solar system (a great way to get rid of those
>small broken weathered NWA pieces).
>
>Regards,
>Frank
>
>P.S. I probably wouldn't use this trick on older students. They might
>actually get the magnet off the table than then pinch their finger between
>the magnet and table or meteorite. Coincidently, just the other day I was
>playing around with a couple of rare earth magnets and the result was a nice
>blood blister to show for it. Guess one of these days I'll grow up :-)
>
>
>
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-- 

Received on Sat 02 Feb 2002 02:19:40 PM PST