| Kids love rocks. Rocks often hold fossils. Our valley used to be under water millions of years ago and so piles of chalk rock talice line the cuts along roadways. This had all the markings of a magical combination except that we needed hammers for each kid.
I wrote a grant for hammers, goggles, brushes, and socks (to hold all the gear). We were granted about $350 from a Philanthropic organization in Oakland. We went to the dollar store and got cheap hammers, etc. Now we needed a safe site.
There were lots of talice sites along the main roadway in Carmel Valley. But I was not willing to take 6 and 7 year olds along a major roadway. We found a site with talice along a quiet neighborhood road with wide pull offs and abundant talice.
We invited as many parents as could get away from their jobs. We invited Leslie. We even invited the principal. We took safety cones that we borrowed from the PE teacher to set up at each end of our "dig site." We brought buckets of water to soak the rock in briefly before we whacked them apart. We had been told that the water soaks in along the strata containing fossils and so your split in the rock is cleaner.
We watched a movie called "I Dig Fossils" that is narrated by a young boy who is a fossil hunter. The children learned not only how to hunt safely, but what tools to use, and who the experts are and where to find fossils. This is an excellent reference in a very accessible format.
The big day had come. 80 first graders filed onto the busses and tromped off at our "dig site." We had a safety talk and practiced saying "Oh well" in case we didn't find any fossils. Off to work they went. They were in heaven whacking rocks and looking for fossils. For an hour and a half they hunted. We found enough fossils that everyone got to carry one back on the bus.
At school we set up our own fossil museum. We wrote signs to display with our fossils. We invited other classes to come see our finds. Most of the children have revisited the "dig site" with their families to dig some more. When the enthusiasm for learning gets to that level you know your school program is making a difference in a child's life. |
This is Shelly ’Klingensmith’ Lyon. Shelly teaches first grade at Tularcitos Elementary School in Carmel Valley, California. Way back in 1991, Leslie asked Shelly if she could volunteer in her classroom. Shelly said "Yes!"