March 2021 – Collecting Badge

Everyone who worked on their displays got a chance to show them. Everyone went for bonus points & showed off a favorite rock that had a story behind it.

HOMEWORK: For April’s meeting, you are to finish off your poster for the poster contest (full details on the home page) & present it to the group. We also asked for ideas for a logo, mascot & definitely an avatar we can use to identify you online.

February 2021 – Collecting Badge

Usually we don’t meet in March because of the Silent Auction. For the 2nd year in a row, it will not be happening due to Covid so we will be meeting instead. We have had some realizations about the badges. For those who do not have the Communications or Rocking on the Computer badges, we have found a way to earn them with a lot of the work we already did & just a few extra assignments.

Don’t forget about the poster contest. Full details can be found on the Home page. We realized, if you did a written report & an oral report with the group(Gemstone Lore badge), & you do a poster for the contest, you will earn the Communications badge.ith the group, & you do a poster for the contest, you will earn the Communications badge.

At the meeting, we watched a couple of  YouTube videos on displaying your collection. Here are the links:

  1. Mineral and Shell Displays – Display options for minerals, fossils, and seashells.- https://youtu.be/iGM709Lz9tM
  2. Sensational Crystals & Stunning Stones. Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show 2018 (Pause this video as it plays to check out some killer specimens.) – https://youtu.be/912jv5EK8QU
  3. DIY Rock Collection Display – https://youtu.be/IabiXvwkM9M
  4. Stone Sphere Collection on Display at the R.O.C.K. Show – https://youtu.be/d4A2ikr2nSk

HOMEWORK: For March’s meeting, after watching the videos, create a display of your choice and take a picture of it to share at the next meeting. Please don’t feel you have to run out to buy stands…get creative & see what you can make. Minimum six specimens. (Don’t forget what we learned last month about labeling.) You can make an unlimited number of displays! Have fun and share pictures with the rest group!! **Extra points – show and tell the story of your favorite rock/fossil/gem from your collection. What is its story? Did you find it some place special? Or, did some one special give it to you? Why it is special? Did you fall in a creek or lake trying to retrieve it? How does it look/feel?

We are also starting to work on the website. Would anyone want to try designing a logo or mascot? We will talk about it more at the meeting.

January 2021 – Gemstone Lore & Legend Badge / Collecting Badge

We finally closed out the Gemstone Lore & Badge. If you still have work to hand in please let us know yesterday so I can order the patches. You can also finish this off at any time you please.

At the meeting, we watched a couple of Diamond Dan’s YouTube videos on what constitutes a collection & how to mark & label it. Here are the links:

Mini Miners with Diamond Dan WHAT IS A MINERAL COLLECTION
https://youtu.be/_lNdqqu9f1E

Mini Miners with Diamond Dan: Numbers and Labels
https://youtu.be/dc2YK_gvkdQ

HOMEWORK: For February’s meeting, you are to number & label at least 6 pieces of yours. We have downloaded the sheets from his website & emailed them out. You can either email us or follow his link below to download the specimen & numbering labels. Follow the instructions in the second video to learn how to do this. You may also create labels of your own. I have used business card templates & card stock to print custom labels.

December 2020 – Gemstone Lore & Legend Badge

At this meeting we opened our boxes & made picture frames with a rock design. Some of the kids presented work they had done on the Gemstone Lore & Legend Badge.

November 2020 – Gemstone Lore & Legend Badge

If you missed the last meeting or any other one, we will give you a chance to present your project either at the December or January meetings. Just let us know at the beginning of the meeting you need to present.

We watched 2 videos at the meeting, here are the links, watch them at your leisure:
Mythical Gem Stories – https://youtu.be/bRIzUgZKCEk
Top 10 Most Powerful Gems Of Mythology – https://youtu.be/ZDt0MSYdAW0

For December’s GeoJunior meeting:

Take inspiration from what you’ve learned about gemstones, and from the presentations about fabled gemstones by fellow club members, and design something amazing to showcase your favorite gemstone! Design a piece of jewelry, or a sculpture, or a crown, or maybe an amazing holiday decoration. Get creative! Use whatever art supplies you already have at home. Draw using crayons, markers or colored pencils. Or maybe sculpt something out of playdough. You might have some pipe cleaners or string and some extra beads laying around. Use your imagination and have fun! Be ready to share your project and tell us about the gemstone that inspired it at our December meeting.

Alternate activity:
Pick a new gemstone to learn about. You can pick ANY gemstone you haven’t already researched for the previous two assignments.

Describe your gemstone.
Where is it found?
How is it collected?
When was it first identified?

Does it have any important medical, economic, nutritional, scientific, artistic uses or value?
Is the gemstone thought to have any mystical or magical properties? Is there any modern scientific studies to support these claims?

We are also asking if you can wear your best ugly sweater or other holiday wear to the meeting, that would be great.

October 2020 – Gemstone Lore & Legend Badge

Some of you had a hard time connecting either with the meeting all together or returning to it. Don’t worry, you can present at our next meeting. New members who didn’t have time to do the September assignment(below), can also present at our next meeting. I’m not sure when people cut out but we did watch a YouTube video on the history of birth stones that can be found here:
https://youtu.be/2n_fMhaTDPQ
Any one who presented at our last meeting, check off requirement 7.1 & 7.2 of the Communications badge also. For those of you who haven’t presented, can check these off after you have.

For November, the kids are to research a famous gemstone (Requirement 13.3). Names were chosen at the October meeting and are listed below. If you did not receive a gem to research, try to pick one that no one else has.

Many especially large and valuable gemstones have been lost, stolen, and/or vested with supernatural powers or curses. Some of these gemstones are famous for being the biggest or best examples of their kind, while others are famous for their long histories or their famous or infamous owners. Research your fabled gemstone and report back to us at our November meeting. how you do the assignment is up to you. I am encouraging papers to be written for competition. Rules on that to follow-definitely no plagiarism.

Some questions to get you started:

  • Tell us about it’s basic history. Where was it found? When was it found? Who found it?
  • Describe your gemstone and teach us what is unique about it. How big is it? How much does it weigh? What color is it?
  • Why is it famous, special or unusual?Does it have any powers?
  • Where is it now? Who owns it? Is it in a museum or private collection?
  1. Gs – The Koh-i-Noor
  2. R? – The Sancy Diamond
  3. AW – The Duke of Devonshire Emerald
  4. Twin L – The Flame Queen Opal
  5. NW – The Black Prince’s Ruby
  6.        – The Star of India
  7. New A – Shah Diamond
  8. Twin M – The Pearl of Lao Tzu
  9. Iron Man – The Cullinan Diamond
  10. Magnetite Girl – Le Peregrina
  11.        – The Dom Pedro Aquamarine
  12.        – The Delhi Purple Sapphire
  13. She who has yet to be named-The Samarian Spinel
  14. Tiger Eye -The Pride of Australia Opal
  15. Desert Rose – The Orlov Diamond

I am going to add 1 more thing to this badge, a little quiz to see what gemstone you are. Let us know at the November meeting. I am an Opal.
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/games/personality-quizzes/which-gemstone-are-you/

September 2020 – Gemstone Lore & Legend Badge

It has been decided that the group will work on the “Gemstone Lore & Legend” badge. For the October meeting, kids are to research and report on one of their birthstones (Requirement 13.2). We want to know: describe how it looks, where to find it, any meanings, does it have any protective powers, good luck and any other beliefs, myths or truths about your stone. Click here to see the full requirement. There is more than 1 birthstone for each month so kids from the same family, born in the same month can report on different stones. You will be reporting on your stone at the next meeting. Written papers or powerpoint presentations are good.

April 2020 – Field Trip Badge

Our Field Trip badge is still on! We are going on a Virtual Field trip. Not sure where yet but there are a bizillion of them online. More information to come!

Jan 12, 2019

At the last meeting we worked on requirement 1.4 of the “Rocks & Minerals” badge. We covered the rock cycle & the 3 types of rock (igneous, metamorphic & sedimentary), if you have already earned the Earth Processes badge then you are covered for this requirement(listed below).

For our next meeting, we will be working on requirement 1.7. Each child that came to the last meeting picked 2 states to report on. If you weren’t at the meeting, we picked the states for you. If your name is not on the list, pick 2 states that aren’t on the list below. You are to find the information & fill out the following worksheet for each state you got. If you prefer, you could just write it up as a paper, answering all of the questions. Should you happen to have a specimen of your rocks, feel free to bring it in & earn a bonus bead for each of your state rocks that you bring in. Your findings will be presented at the February meeting.

Here is a link to the assignment sheets:

State Rocks Worksheet.
You will probably need 2 per child, 1 for each state.

Feb 10, 2018

We started the Earth in Space badge. We made a model to help remember the names of our “visitors from space”(Requirement 11.2).

We also studied the effects of meteorites & the impact they can have (Requirement 11.3). To do this, we took a pan of flour covered with a layer of hot chocolate then dropped different sized & weighted “meteorites” (foil with different items wrapped inside to add size or weight). We had found that the heavier the meteor the deeper the impression they left. Larger meteors didn’t necessarily leave the deepest impressions since some of them were lighter but they did create larger diameter craters. One thing that was noticed is the starish shaped splatter around the crater.

You MUST either visit our Pinterest page (https://www.pinterest.com/geojuniors/ then scroll to the 11. Earth in Space badge board) or at least the links below.

If you missed this meeting, and want to work on this badge, create the model we did for the different stage of meteors & asteroids & try out the experiment we did. Or pick out any 2 requirements outside of 11.1 to do in place of them.

For our meeting in April, I would like to see you come up with some type of project that has to do with some thing that interests you from space. (This is what we are doing for Requirment 11.1, I am changing it a bit.) I know some of you have made solar system models, that will work. Or do things like nebulas, black holes, the International Space Station, a certain planet or constellations interest you? I am leaving this one up to you & your imagination. A drawing, poster, model, the choice is yours. Families can work in groups just as long as everyone does some part of the project. You will have 5 minutes or so to present it at the meeting. We would also like a written/typed paragraph on your project. Earth Eagle will then weave them into an article for the Pick & Dop.