Thursday, May 11, 2017

A Day at the Quarry

Yesterday my friend T and I joined MadHatter and the entire 3rd-grade class on their field trip to a rock quarry as part of their studies on different landforms.  We weren't given a lot of information as it was a last minute addition to the unit and no one had been to this particular location before.  But, we were told to dress down, pack a lunch and bring an extra pair of shoes, just in case it was muddy (we have had a bit of rain the past few days months).

Hats Comfy pants Enthusiasm for joining the kid on an adventure 
Unaware that the drive is 2 hours - each way! 


We ended up getting lost and having to drive through several small towns before we finally found the right location.  The bright side was that I got to get a picture of some of my favorite spring flowers.

We finally arrived at our location...




We were given a quick introduction to the area and what we were looking for while in the quarry.  The Solnhofen region is known for its fossil-rich limestone plates.  The children would be breaking open the rocks and looking for the remnants of mussels, crabs, small fish, and plants.  There is also the possibility of finding crystals on the site - which made MadHatter squeal with joy.




They picked up their tools and we were a bit surprised to see that there was no safety gear, just a chisel, a hammer and a bucket to collect it all in.


 A quick lesson on how to strike the rocks to split them open, and once they were open, to identify if there was a fossil within and they were on their way...


 She scouted her location...Steadied her rock and hammered away...
Her first try - her first fossil.


 She kept hammering away and I went off to help a few of the other kids - those hammers were heavy and holding the chisel and then hammering and not hitting your hand was quite a feat.  I came back and MadHatter had found a crystal (she collects them) and the man who ran the place was eager to show her how and where to find another.


The kids hammered on rocks from one side to the other, from the bottom to the top.



 After about an hour or so, we stopped for lunch and piled back onto the bus for the long ride back.  This time with a bunch of happy, sweaty and tired 3rd graders.  T and I joked that after a day with these guys we deserved a glass of wine.  And that is exactly what I did as I went through and processed all of the class pictures.




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