past:
present:
The Austin Science and Nature Center
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Minerals, Rocks and Fossils Program
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To lay the foundation for our study of the distant past, the Zavala Young Scientists attended the Minerals, Rocks and Fossils program at the Austin Nature and Science Center on Friday, January 25, 2002. |
Students discovered differences and similarities between the 3 kinds of rocks: metamorphic, sedimentary and igneous. Students floated a rock (pumice), scratched a rock (gypsum), picked up a rock with a magnet (magnetite) and wrote with a rock (chalk). Discussion centered on the age of the earth, the kinds of rocks and how they are formed. We also talked about why there is so much limestone in Central Texas and why this is such a great place to find many different marine fossils.
| At the end of the morning, students hunted for fossils in Shoal Creek where they found many exogyra, a small marine animal that lived millions of years ago. See below the comments of several of the participants. |  |
Comments:
“I thought that rocks were just plain and unable to have a scent. But they have a rock that you are able to make fireworks out of”. Veronica
“Our class studied different smells and scents of rocks. I never knew that there were smells for different rocks. Some smells were terrible which smell like firecrackers and some smelled like lemon. “ Norma
“I enjoyed trying to figure out what the rocks’ names were.” Lydia
“It was fun to go down to the creek and find fossils. I learned so much about what rocks were made of.”-Caresa
