Exploring Geology

We had so much fun exploring geology! After being rock detectives, it was time to hit the road. First we met a REAL geologist (and paleontologist!),  Joan, who is a double Ph.D., and the owner of Jerry's Rock and Gem shop. She talked about her love of learning, advised the students to learn as much as they can about EVERYTHING they are interested in (no need to limit yourself to one topic, she said -- she's living proof!), showed us some fossilized dinosaur eggs, and then let us browse her shop to find our own treasures! 

We also visited the Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle, where we met another geologist, who led us through some more rock identification experiments and a scavenger hunt through the museum's geology section.

We wrote our thank-you's when we got back:

Then we studied crystals and tried making some of our own using sugar solution and also a borax solution.

We cracked open some geodes that we bought at Jerry's Rock and Gem, and were delighted by what we found inside!

And, finally, we mapped out earthquake activity to discover the outline of the Pacific ring of fire, then constructed our own volcanoes and made our own ring of fire -- on our playground!

What a lot of fun!