GMS distributed several thousand stickers to Earth Science teachers from all corners of the state.  Going to elementary, middle school, and high school teachers, our messages promoting Earth Science education may be displayed on rural and urban students alike.  If you see a student (of any age) wearing one of our stickers, please be sure to speak and welcome them to the wonderful world of rocks and minerals.

During our many conversations, several requests were repeated:  Did we have any samples to give away?  Did we have any one to help in the classroom?  And from a number of teachers: This is the first time I have taught Earth Science and I can use all the help that is available.
Education Chair Anita Westlake is going to need all the help and support that we can generate.  The Speakers Bureau cover sheet was distributed to every questioner and many that didn’t get the chance to ask the question.  We may have requests from North Georgia, South Georgia, West Georgia, East Georgia, rural areas, urban areas, and even Transition Schools.  This means that, either the Atlanta-based speakers will develop wings (or cheap gas) and clones, or we must recruit speakers all over the state.  We have members in all corners, now we will need speakers in all corners.

Our Purpose and Objective is “To Educate the Youth of the State and the Members of this Society in the Field of Earth Science”.  We are now handed the opportunity to fulfill our Purpose to the intent and letter of our Charter Members.  Please don’t wait for Anita or Joan to call you.  Call them and volunteer to be available to supply classroom samples and to speak about the rock, mineral or lapidary subject of your choice.  Education works both ways.  As any teacher will tell you, you will end up learning as much as you teach.

I look forward to seeing you in the classroom.

Yours in Education, Bill Waggener

GMS members, Joan White, Kim Cochran, Bill Waggener, and Carolyn Daniels were in charge of the Fossil competition at the State Science Olympiad Division C (High School) Competition held at Emory University on March 27, 2004. Carolyn provided most of the fossil material and questions with the help of Kim.  Joan and Bill helped time the competition and insure everything ran smoothly.

Sarah Gorday, GMS Junior Member, said the competition was harder than last year’s. Her team, Chamblee Charter School, placed first in this year’s competition with a score of 80 out of 96 points. They didn’t win without a lot of competition, we had to go to a tiebreaker question to choose first place! There was also a tie for third place that had to be broken.

Try your hand at one of the stations at the State Science Olympiad Fossil Competition:

1. In what Kingdom did the organisms represented by these fossils belong? (1 point)
2. In what Class (your official Science Olympiad list call is a Genus) did they belong in? (1 point)
3. In what Order did the organism represented by Fossil “A.” belong in? (1 point)
4. What Genus is represented by Fossil “B.” (1 point)
5. Was the test of the organism represented by Fossil “B.” chitinous, agglutinated, calcareous or hyaline? (1 point)
6. What does Fossil “B” have in common with the pyramids of Egypt? (1 point)
7. Is Fossil “B” microscopic or macroscopic? (1 point)

On Saturday, March 27, 2004, my husband Mickey and I participated in a wonderful annual event held by Hunt Elementary School in Ft. Valley, Georgia. Each year the school invites organizations involved in the different science fields to set up demonstrations, distribute information, answer questions, and generally encourage the students of this small community to develop an interest in some science field. The event was very well attended by local children and their parents, and every room and every hallway in the school seemed to have displays set up. The field of mineralogy was well represented; Mickey and I represented Georgia Mineral Society, and Middle Georgia Mineral Society attended as well and set up a beautiful display.

We took a large selection of our personal collection of minerals and fossils to display. The children were fascinated by all the fossils and a great many of the minerals and asked a lot of questions. Especially popular were the trilobites under the large magnifying glass. The most popular part of our display, however, were the free samples we gave away. We had quartz crystals from Mount Ida, Arkansas, and iron pyrites from Glendon, North Carolina. We also had a small number of fossilized shark teeth; we had to be careful to limit the disappeared within minutes! We also took a bucket of geodes from Dale Hollow Lake, Tennessee. We cracked some open and found a couple with nice crystals that we gave away. Well, word spread like wildfire after that, and we were besieged with requests for geodes.  Mickey is an earth science teacher and spent the
morning speaking to visitors about different specimens and about earth science in general. As I am an absolute amateur, I concentrated my energies on giving away samples and explaining what they were – and believe me, that was a lot of work!

The top five questions/comments heard: 1) “Is this free?”, 2) “Is that real gold?”, 3) “Those look just like diamonds,” 4) “Where did they come from?”, and my personal favorite, 5) “Those almost look real.” We had a grand time. Over a hundred children and parents came through our room. The best part of the day was seeing children light up with real interest in our hobby; hopefully a few of them will continue to develop their interest and become rockhounds, too.
 

Lizabeth McClain
GMS Executive Vice President