Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Gravel Pit

Yesterday I went with Joshua and his 2nd grade class on a field trip to a gravel pit. The kids have been looking forward to this for months!


They went as part of their unit on geology. The kids looked for different types of rocks. Josh was excited when he found and could identify certain kinds. He has always loved being outside.


Each of the groups had the help of a local naturalist (Ms. H). The kids loved asking her about their rocks. One of the kids in our group kept bringing Ms. H rocks and asking her, "Is this a stone?" She kept saying, "Yes. Stone is another word for rock. Everything you pick up here is a stone."


Another time Ms. H was looking at one of the kid's rocks and said, "Oh, you have some fossilized lichen in this one." With a mix of disbelief and excitement the boy said, "A viking!" She said, "No, lichen." That wasn't nearly as exciting for him.


The kids even got to see a rock that was over 1 billion years old. I thought that was pretty cool! Everybody got a chance to slide down the rock.


It was great spending time with Josh. He's such a wonderful boy.