[meteorite-list] Kids say the darndest things

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:40:32 -0400
Message-ID: <ie74k31diohs8chsruke12mm8igpfd0lac_at_4ax.com>

Ooops, cussin' in the subject.

Anyway, a pair of creative liars and a clueless science teacher.

http://www.ocala.com/article/20071118/NEWS/211180344/1368/googlesitemapnews

Fourth-grader finds meteorite in yard

BY KAREN VOYLES
THE GAINESVILLE SUN

CEDAR KEY - A fourth-grader got a personal, hands-on lesson in meteorites
earlier this week.

Jeremiah Barnes, 10, was the featured speaker in science classes at Cedar Key
School Friday, where he explained how he saw the meteorite fall into his yard at
the beginning of the week.

After seeing an object streak into the yard, Jeremiah told high school classes
he initially thought one of his cousins had thrown something over the fence.
After running over to the object and touching it, Jeremiah said he knew it was
something extraordinary.

"It burned my finger so I ran in the house and got my sister," Jeremiah said.

After seeing a blister rise on her brother's index finger, Angel Neese, a
14-year-old ninth-grader, doused the object with water from the garden house.
Brother and sister watched in fascination as the water being poured into the
shoebox-sized hole made by the object instantly began boiling.

"It kind of looked like lava from a volcano, but then I remembered what we
learned in [eighth-grade] science class. And I kind of thought it would be a
meteorite," Angel said. After the object cooled, Angel pointed out the metals in
it to her little brother and explained what she remembered about objects
superheating when they entered the Earth's atmosphere.

Jeremiah presented the molten lump to high school science teacher Richard
Whitman, who confirmed it was a meteorite and called the astronomy department at
the University of Florida to try to figure out the odds of a fourth-grader in
the state's smallest public school actually seeing a meteorite hit the ground.

"Not a real likely event," Whitman said. "For anyone."

Jeremiah said he plans to keep the meteorite and is cautious about who gets to
handle his new treasure. After telling his story to the high school science
students, Jeremiah answered questions, then walked from desk to desk allowing
the teenagers to look and touch, but being careful to make sure it remained over
a desk to reduce the risk of an accidental drop.

"I want to make sure I have it always, and it doesn't ever get broken," Jeremiah
said.
Received on Mon 19 Nov 2007 06:40:32 PM PST