Classical Graffiti

Mine Again, and An Astronomical Opportunity

Six years ago, we took the kids to a copper mine, and they had a blast.  Heh. But that was not our first experience with mines...no indeed.  Ten years ago, I took my kids to the Herkimer Diamond Mines in upstate NY.  4 hours from NYC is another world--a world of ancient rocks and beautiful crystals.  This past weekend, I took another set of kids to the same spot.  Like prisoners on a chain gang, the kids diligently broke rocks with little pay-off.  Towards the end of the day, a mine employee came out and gave us some hints.  We were rewarded with a find of small, beautiful crystals. Here are some photos of the adventure.  (You can click on the link above and see the difference in digital photography via cell phone then, and my Nikon today.)  Mining is fun for the whole family.  It is even more fun when your group camps together at a campground with an observatory.  Yes, indeed.

The young miners hit a wall.

A careful inspection of the rocks.

Resting on the ledge.

Nursing mothers can feel right at home in the mines!

Finding her own space.

Mining in the field.

There's cell service.

Beautiful!

Sifting through the rubble.

Looking for the perfect spot.

Water break.

You keep what you find!

After a hard day in the mines, one wants to relax.  We chose the Herkimer KOA as our lodging place...Why?  This is why:

A lovely porch (I bought the books).

A gas grill...

Oh, did I mention the observatory?  We rented this lodge and had it all to ourselves.

It had plenty of seating.

Upstairs.

The master bedroom.

In the kitchen.

Bunkroom.

In the lodge for our enjoyment.

Creek.

 It was a spectacular adventure.  Sure we had to cook, but food on a stick or prepared on the grill was easy.  Had we wanted more, we had the cooking facilities to make meals to die for.  Bacon and sausage and oatmeal and pumpkin bread for breakfast...and s'mores, of course.

Some of our younger miners fell asleep early.

One stayed up until the wee hours of the night.

Big kids helped keep the fires going.

The kids camped across from us, along the creek.

We had some clouds, but the skies cleared and we had good viewing.

There was also wine.  It's not just about the kids.

Under the observatory was a hammock and picnic area.

 No visit to the Herkimer area is complete without a visit to the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal.  Unfortunately, the boat we had planned to take on the canal was undergoing maintenance, but we drove to Little Falls and walked along the canal and enjoyed the history and the scenery.  And the moms took pictures.

Kids along the Mohawk.

A waterfall.

Holy Family Parish in Little Falls.

The walk to the Lock (17).

A boat from Ontario heads east, and waits for the lock to open.

And waited...

Well, you may have to wait, but the price is right.  We had to move on.

We hiked and saw historical signs telling us about the raised canal and boat basin that used to serve the area.  Afterwards we got ice cream (moms ate free!!) and were treated to stories of the area told by the ice cream man.

Mill with shops, and ice cream.

Goodbye from along the Erie Canal!

Also:  The tale of mining from the Bonnie Blue House!

Other links:
History of the Erie Canal

Mineral Information Institute (free stuff, and stuff for sale)

Gem Clubs in the US

Mining History (worldwide)

World Museum of Mining

U. S. Geological Survey

Mineral Database

Pan for gold at Home!

Good books for young miners:

Pigeon Post
Rocks in His Head
The Practical Geologist
Rocky Road Trip
How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World
Holes
Roadside Geology series


Need more books for your homeschooler?
See also:
High School Astronomy
High School Earth Science

Deeper Nature Study: Stalking Bacteria in the Wild Part 1

Nature study is the core of many a homeschooler's science studies.  Nature study for the younger set is often simple and un-directed; the children find what they can find and bring it to Mother for examination, or home to observe and preserve.  The child and parent try to identify specimens, and often learn how to use a field guide together.  It's fun and informative for the younger children, but what about older kids?  Just as highschoolers can benefit from intensive copywork using great books and technical articles, so a high school student can get laboratory credit for nature study that is specific and directed towards a more quantitative goal.

This year, I chose a few victims (I mean students, of course) to try out an addition to our biology curriculum using more advanced living books.  This is the first in a short series of blogs on "Deeper Nature Study."

A few years ago, I came across a terrific book called A Field Guide to the Bacteria by Betsey Dexter Dyer.   Dyer is a biology professor at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, and has recorded a Modern
Scholars lecture series on this same topic called Unseen Diversity, which is top-notch and available from Audible.  Both are fine alone, but combined they make a formidable mini-course in bacteriology that is easily used by homeschoolers.  You will be relieved to hear that Prof. Dyer suggests that we not grow things in petrie dishes in our kitchens, so we won't; instead, we take our search outside.  In the wild, we have been able to discover evidence of bacteria everywhere.  And we are only 1/3 the way through the outdoor portion of the course.

The best thing about this short series of hikes is that it can be done anywhere, almost any time, with little modification.  Since bacteria are plentiful everywhere, and very few are pathogens, it's a safe and nearly fail-proof study.  You can study bacteria where you are, because they are there, too.

We began with a brief lecture on different kinds of bacteria, and the environments in which each thrives.  A quick version--cold, temperate, and hot are three measurable but wide temperature ranges for bacterial growth (one can get way more specific, and we did, but I don't really want to write out the entire lecture, and Prof. Dyer does it in more depth).   pH is another variable for determining the types of bacteria we are likely to discover.  The third environment we are exploring varies in oxygen content.  We could also add salt, and more, but these are the basics.  After my brief lecture we went outside and found some regular every-day common clover to examine.  We dug up the roots to find nodules of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the root system.  These are terribly EASY to find!  We found some lichen, that combination of fungus and bacteria that grows so well on rocks and tree trunks.  And we found some cyanobacteria growing in patches large enough to identify by color alone.  Then we hopped into the car and took a quick field trip to the local Quaker cemetery, where the old tombstones yielded more evidence of bacteria at work.  And that was day 1!  NB:  It is very difficult to pry teens out of graveyards...go figure.

Day 2 brought us to a local swamp, where quick running water, deep muck, and hard trails all had perfectly detectable bacteria for our viewing--and sometimes smelling--pleasure:

The light leaf litter smells fresh even though it is full of bacteria.

Miss A. is encouraged to take a deeper sample...it will have a different odor.

Right along the trail are worm castings, full of bacteria fresh from  the gut of  worms.  Slugs approve.

Intrepid Miss B. strives for the best sampling spots, mid swamp!

OK.  Crossing the swamp by log is just fun for Miss B., Miss C.,  and A.

Slow, clear water reveals a nice bacterial mat, with large air bubbles!

Miss C. discovered that the faster running water was cold.

Yet, who could resist? Neither P nor Miss B.

Bubbly beer-like bacteria!!

Ha-ha!  Miss M. captures millions of bacteria.

Tempting...but no, she didn't.  ;)

Next stop?  The salt marsh...

Jewel Weed's Jewel

The younger kids visited Thomas More College during the open house this weekend.  They had an opportunity to stay overnight in the dormitories, eat and chat with students, and attend classes.  While they did that, Don and I had a pleasant time in Nashua.  Later, Don went to find cheap gas with supermarket gas points...he paid $1.09.  Woohoo!

Meanwhile, I explored the grounds of the college.  I must admit, I was quite surprised by the small size of the campus, and the wooded area surrounding the buildings.  The flora and fauna are typical NH...it smelled of pine!  

Behind the library, I found some jewel weed.  It has a pretty orange flower that sometimes attracts hummingbirds (though I saw none today).  Most of the plant had gone to seed, but a few blooms were left.

Jewel weed flowers

The real jewel of the weed is not the flower, though.  There are a few tales of how the weed got its name, but I like to think the seed hidden inside a spring-loaded pod is the reason.  Here's the pod on a small branch:

A few leaves with a seed pod

And here is the pod after I touched it (some people call the plant a touch-me-not).  As the sides of the pod peel suddenly away, the seeds shoot away.  If you release it correctly (I hold my hand around it) you will catch a seed or two.  The mature seed is covered with a green or brown coat.:

The seed revealed, with the pod peeled away

The small seed is less than a cm long, but if you carefully peel the coating off...

The jewel!

A tiny blue-green "jewel" of a seed is revealed.  Then, you can eat it!  It tastes a bit like an almond.