Quartz Study - Rock Collecting Gone Crazy

Our quartz study has stretched on for weeks. We have had numerous rock collecting hikes and each time we come home we develop new questions to be answered. The supply of quartz in our area is seemingly endless. Once your eye starts to look for it...you see it everywhere.

Our family lives in the gold country of California. The gold rush started practically in our backyard. We drive by the American River every day...as the crow flies it is about 3 miles from our house. This area is full of old gold mines and many people still today make a living by mining and panning for gold (or using a sluice box). Where there is gold, there is quartz.


We collected milky quartz for the most part at the river, along with a variety of other "pretty" rocks. I have a special place for pretty rocks in my heart. It may be the hunting for them or the spotting of a particularly nice rock that keeps me coming back for more.

Mr. A shares my love of rocks and we enjoyed an afternoon this week at the river with the Kona dog. Kona likes sticks more than rocks so we occupied her with fetching sticks while we looked for something interesting along the rocky shore.


The sound of rushing water always seems to welcome a good thoughtful sit..even on an uncomfortable rock. This day we sat and enjoyed the warmth of the sun after a freezing morning. Our jackets were slipped off on the hike back to the car which was nice. 

At home we started off with a magnifying lens, looking carefully at the surface of each rock. This can quite addictive once you get started and there really is a lot to see.



We noticed a colorful collection of sand on the surface of one rock and we had the bright idea to place it on a slide and look at it under the microscope.




We are still not sure if the shiny gold is actually gold or pyrite....probably pyrite flakes.


We placed a little sand on a microscope slide...our rocks all had small amounts clinging to the nooks and crannies.


Now this is where the study becomes even more interesting! We spent the next hour or so taking turns finding things on the slides to share with each other. It was like discovering a new dimension.

We now have a larger collection of quartz and pretty rocks, a growing understanding of what "sand" is after looking at it under the microscope, and an appreciation that we don't know everything about everything. :)


Amazing world down there...who would have thought?


It is not too late to do your own study of quartz using the Outdoor Hour Challenge. You may be as amazed as we were.

Our Fall Leaf Study - A Lesson in Teen Nature Study

Pressed leaves going into my nature journal (See the November Newsletter for instructions.)

We are finally starting to see some fall colors all over our neighborhood. With our autumn color words in mind, we try to challenge each other to find just the right color words as we drive around town...noticing the crimson, the indigo, the mahogany, and the bronze of the leaves. (Download your own Advanced Fall Color Activity from Hearts and Trees.)

As part of the Leaf Close-Up challenge, Mr. B was happy to come along to gather fall leaves but not too excited about doing the follow-up for this one. His teen attitude was that he knew all there was to know about leaves. I let it go for that day since we had enjoyed spending time together outside and I did not want to spoil the mood.

I waited until another day to try the advanced study work suggested in the challenge which was to make our own slides using the leaves we gathered, looking closer at them using a microscope. As much as I want my teen to continue his nature study, I know that pushing him too hard takes the joy out of it and that is the opposite of my aim in continuing nature study through high school.

It can wait.

Fall leaves with larvae.

So, even though a leaf study was not a great fit for Mr. B, I tried to finish the challenge myself this week, hoping he would join me. Well, right off the bat I needed his help with the microscope. It did not seem to be working so he took a look at it for me but he could not get it going either. That ended another day of trying to get this challenge done.

Then on Friday, Mr. A (my older son who has graduated from high school) was home and I asked him if he wanted to finish up the challenge with me. He actually was eager to participate. He brought his own leaves in and got to work. The image below is a glimpse at his notebook page from the More Nature Study ebook. He ended up using the hand lens instead to view the leaves up close.

Advanced Study notebook page from More Nature Study ebook

This challenge led to a light bulb moment for me.

• Mr. B was not interested in this particular challenge but we did enjoy our time together outdoors viewing the trees and leaves. For Mr. B, that was enough.
• Mr. A *was* interested in taking a closer look with me at the fall leaves even though he has graduated from homeschool.  

Lesson? I am succeeding in keeping my teens interested in nature study. As always, I need to learn to be flexible and allow for personal taste and styles of learning.

For more on that topic make sure to read the article in the November edition of my Outdoor Hour Challenge Newsletter from Ellen Crandall (available to all subscribers to my blog-see the sidebar to sign up). She has a few teens in her home that she is encouraging nature study with each month.

OHC More Nature Study #8 Fall Leaf Study - Close Up

"Make the lesson an investigation and make the pupils feel that they are investigators…….The ‘leading thought’ embodies some of the points which should be in the teacher’s mind while giving the lesson; it should not be read or declared to the pupils……..The outlines for observations herein given by no means cover all of the observations possible; they are meant to suggest to the teacher observations of her own, rather than to be followed slavishly….If the questions do not inspire the child to investigate, they are useless.”

Handbook of Nature Study, page 23

More Nature Study #8
Fall Leaf Study - Close Up

Inside Preparation Work:

• Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 9-10 (The Lens, Microscope, and Field Glass As Helps in Nature Study).
• Have on hand a magnifying glass to use as part of this leaf challenge. You can see more ideas on my: Squidoo Lens on Magnifying Lenses.

Outdoor Hour Time:

• Spend your Outdoor Hour time in your own backyard or neighborhood. 
• Look at the various kinds of leaves and have your child point out several that capture their interest.
• Choose four or five leaves to collect and bring home to look at with the magnifying lens.

Follow-Up Activity:

• Use the hand lens to make careful observations of your leaves. One at a time have your child describe what he sees as he looks at the leaf carefully. Record your results in your nature journal (or use the notebook page in the ebook).
• Press your leaves to add to your nature journal at a future date. You can watch my YouTube video to learn how to do this with simple household items.

• Advanced Follow-Up: Use this LINK and scroll down to the section, “Taking a Closer Look At Plant Cells”. Make your own leaf slides to look at under your microscope. Here is a LINK to view many leaves up close. Ebook Users - Use the Leaf Morphology page and the notebook page to complete your study.
• Advanced Follow-Up: Read this article on Wikipedia: Leaf. Read this page that illustrates Leaf Margins and Shapes (love this page with the clear images).

It is getting very close to the end of the month and the next edition of the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Outdoor Hour Challenge entries that were written in the month of October 2011 are all eligible and are due to me no later than October 30, 2011. The carnival is posted on the last day of each month. You can enter at this link: Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival Submission Form.