Geology Night

Yesterday I told you about the Bear Pet Rocks that were the gathering activity for the Cub Scout Geology Night I hosted. I gave each boy a 7-page booklet that we used throughout the night. On the first page, I had them write or draw about their Pet Rock. They used those notes as a jumping-off point for the stories they presented to the group. Trevor named his bear Bearry. 

After all the boys had presented their Pet Rocks, we moved on to the more academic part of the night. We learned that geology is the science that deals with Earth's physical structure and substance and the processes that act on it. We talked about geo- and -ology and brainstormed other words that contained them. 

Then we talked about the difference between rocks and minerals. The boys worked together to brainstorm both. I didn't look at Trevor's booklet until I scanned it; apparently I should have taught him that the rock he knows as 'courts' is actually 'quartz!' He's been able to identify quartz for years; I never realized he was mispronouncing (and thus, misspelling) it. 

Here the boys are examining samples of rocks and minerals.

Next, it was time for a game. I divided the six boys into two teams of three and had them sit facing each other with three rings in between them. The blue center ring held a bunch of ordinary household items. The teams took turns selecting a product that they thought was made of or contained rocks or minerals. If they were correct, the item went into their team ring (either yellow or green). In this picture, you can see that the yellow team has correctly identified salt as a mineral.  

The boys did an excellent job working together to identify the correct items. Neither team made a mistake... because I'd intentionally chosen only items that contained rocks and minerals! They didn't know this, of course, so they chose the most obvious items at first and were increasingly nervous about their choices as the game went on. There were an even number of items, so the game conveniently ended in a tie and everyone was happy.

For their next requirement, they needed to make a poster featuring at least ten products with rocks or minerals. It was easy after playing the game. 

We moved on to talk about igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. The boys examined samples of each, then we headed to the garage for a science experiment. I showed the boys some red and yellow Candy Melts and explained that they represented igneous rocks. 

I put them in a baggie and hit them with a mallet to simulate weathering of the rocks. We layered the weathered 'rocks' into baggies and then added pressure.

With time and pressure, their weathered igneous Candy Melts became sedimentary Candy Melts!

We talked about how heat and time can change sedimentary rocks into metamorphic rocks. To simulate that, each boy made an aluminum foil boat for his sedimentary Candy Melts and put them into hot water. 

We counted by 100,000s to reach 3 million years. Then we removed our molten Candy Melts from the hot water and moved them to the freezer and headed back inside where we 'met' a geologist. I'd contacted the UC Davis Geology Department and asked friends on Facebook for any geologist willing to video a message for the Cub Scouts. Huge thanks to Regina for helping us by explaining her job, the necessary training, and what 3rd graders should do if they think they might want a career in geology. 

We headed back out to the garage to check on our Candy Melts. Now that they'd gone through the whole rock cycle, the boys were able to eat them. Tasty!

We headed back inside for our last requirement, which was to learn about stalactites and stalagmites. The boys looked at images on the computer and then drew their own cave pictures. 

After nearly two hours, all of the boys had completed the requirements for their Geology Belt Loop and Pin. Mission accomplished! Best of all, they had a great time. I did too.

One last photo to share. Everyone who comes to our house can't get enough of Trouble. The Cub Scouts were no exception. 

I'm already thinking about what my next Belt Loop Night will be!

Bear Pet Rocks

Because of Thanksgiving, our Cub Scout den did not have a regular meeting last week. Instead, I offered to host a Geology Night for any of the boys who would be in town. This was the third time I've hosted a belt loop night. (Click the links to read about Astronomy Night or Hiking and Photography Night.) I decided to be extremely ambitious and cover the three belt loop requirements AND the five pin requirements. 

I wanted the boys to start with a craft activity so that early arrivers had something active to do while waiting for the last boys to show up. One of the pin requirements is to make a pet rock and tell a creative story about it. In general, I am all about creativity and open-ended assignments for crafts, but in this case, I knew that giving 8-year old boys unlimited choice wouldn't be ideal, both in terms of staying on schedule and my desire to not have my dining room end up covered from floor to ceiling in paint, glitter, glue and sequins. Since they are working on their Bear (3rd grade) rank, it made sense for each of the boys' pet rocks to be a bear. Here's my sample:

Materials: a rock, gesso, brown paint, brown felt, pink felt, black Sharpie, googly eyes, and white glue

When I made my sample, I immediately realized that I'd need to pre-paint the rocks for the boys. The painting process (or, more accurately, the drying process) was very time-consuming. Gesso on the front, let it dry, gesso on the back, let it dry, brown paint on the front, let it dry, brown paint on the back, let it dry, brown touch-ups on the front, let it dry, brown touch-ups on the back, let it dry. Life would be much easier if the boys started with painted rocks. 

I gave each boy a brown rock, brown and pink felt, and googly eyes. I showed my sample, but emphasized that theirs didn't need to look anything like mine. The boys started cutting, drawing, and gluing. Trevor's ended up looking the most similar to my sample:

The others went their own directions, which is awesome. 

As they finished their pet rocks, I asked each boy to come up with name for his pet and to prepare a creative story. Some chose to write their story, while others drew a habitat to go along with the story. Then each boy presented his bear and story to the group.

Tomorrow I'll share what we did for the three belt loop requirements and the other four pin requirements.

1st Annual deRosier-Salomone Cookie Bake-Off

My friend Nancy and her kids were in California last week. We'd been tossing around ideas of how to spend our day together when Nancy mentioned how much her kids love reading about our family cooking competitions. I suggested taking advantage of the beautiful weather with a leisurely park visit before returning to our house to do a cookie bake-off. 

To prepare, I mixed up a double batch of standard chocolate chip cookie dough before they arrived, stopping just before adding the chocolate chips. Then I dug through our pantry to pull out a bunch of possible mix-ins and set them out on the dining room table.

I kept everyone out of the dining room until after we returned from the park. Then I explained the rules of the competition and unveiled the pantry items. Each contestant would get an equal amount of identical cookie dough and could add up to 1 cup of any mix-ins before forming their cookies. I would be Tim Gunn, advisor to the contestants (and thus would not be competing myself) and would handle oven duty for the kids. After all cookies were done and cooled, each person would taste each cookie, scoring each one except their own on a scale of 1-10. Steve opted not to compete, but would participate in judging. 

Everyone was really excited. The contestants drew numbers to see who would cook first. Since there were limited supplies in the pantry, it was possible that later contestants would not get their preferred ingredients.

Trevor (age 8) was Contestant #1. He immediately went for the candy canes, smashing them in a ziplock bag with a mallet. Trevor added three other ingredients and did not ask Tim Gunn for any advice.

Nancy (age 42) was Contestant #2. She had visions of adding orange juice or orange zest to her cookies and had a lot of questions for Tim Gunn. Tim Gunn gave specific recommendations based on a lifetime of cooking experience. Interestingly, Nancy ignored most of what Tim Gunn had to say.... 

Marco (age 9) was Contestant #3. He has the least cooking experience of the four contestants and needed a bit of gentle guidance from Tim Gunn. Unlike his mother, he followed every bit of advice that Tim Gunn gave.

Julia (age 7) was Contestant #4. Like her brother, she asked Tim Gunn questions and actually followed the advice. 

When all the cookies were done, we gathered in the dining room with our color-coded score cards. Each person presented their cookie to the group. Trevor began.

Trevor called his cookie "The PAMB." He explained that his inspiration was a BLT, except that he put in peppermint candy canes, Andes Mints, M&M's and butterscotch chips instead of bacon, lettuce and tomato.

Nancy was up next. She called her cookie "Victory or Death."

Nancy's cookies contained dried apples, pomegranate leather, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and about five times as much orange zest as Tim Gunn advised. One judge said, "It's yummy, but it's like I'm being slapped in the face with an orange!"

Marco called his cookie "A Very Good Cookie." It was.

It contained semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, M&Ms, dried apples, and chunks of graham cracker.

Last up was Julia, with "A Christmas Cookie." It had candy cane pieces, M&M's, nonpareil mint chocolate chips, and graham cracker crumbs. 

It was fascinating to see and taste the four different cookies. They all started with identical cookie dough, yet the finished cookies were nothing alike except that they were all really good. 

Once all the scores were turned in and the contestants dismissed so that I could calculate the winner, I realized I made a mistake in letting 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders judge things on a scale of 1-10. While the adults occasionally scored something with an 8.5, the kids' scores included 8.33, 9 15/16, and 4 6/8. I had to do quite a bit more math than I'd intended to come up with the winner. Next time, I'll specify fractions OR decimals (or perhaps require whole numbers!).

I called everyone back in to the dining room to announce the winner.... Julia's "A Christmas Cookie!" She was overjoyed. Her prize was a Perler bead cookie that Trevor had made, not to mention a year's worth of bragging rights. 

Congratulations to Julia and all the competitors for your outstanding cookie entries. I'm already looking forward to next year's competition!

Pantone's 2015 Color of the Year

Pantone should be announcing the 2015 Color of the Year any day now. I'm excited to see what it is. As much as I liked 2014's Radiant Orchid as a color, it's not something that made much of an appearance in my crafting. (It goes without saying that it did not make much of an appearance in my wardrobe, as I haven't intentionally followed a clothing trend since wearing rugby shirts, popped collars, pegged pants, and multiple pairs of socks in 8th grade.)   

The Spring 2015 Color Report is called 'En Plein Air. It features colors that take "a cue from nature rather than being reinvented or mechanically manipulated. Soft, cool hues blend with subtle warm tones to create a soothing escape from the everyday hustle and bustle.” I'd recommend reading the whole report and/or watching the video. It is very interesting. Here are the colors we should be seeing in 2015:

Image Credit

It's a nice palette, especially the blues. I like Toasted Almond and Glacier Gray as neutrals. I like Strawberry Ice, Tangerine Orange, and Custard Yellow too. The only color I don't like at all is Marsala Red. I'm not crazy about Lucite Green. I hope neither of them is named the Color of the Year.  

Here's a look back at the previous Color of the Year selections:

Image Credit

I'd say we're due for a blue! I'd love to see Classic Blue as the 2015 Color of the Year, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Glacier Gray. I've been seeing a lot of both in the sneak peeks that scrapbooking companies are beginning to release. 

What are your thoughts? How do you like the 2015 palette? Any predictions (or hopes) for Color of the Year?

First Day of Third Grade

I probably should be finishing the incomplete layouts from events in summer and fall 2013, but I've been in the mood to scrap more recent things. Thus, here is the layout from Trevor's first day of 3rd grade.

I'd started the page with different papers and a different layout, but I just wasn't happy with it. As soon as I switched to these papers, it all came together just the way I wanted. I love when that happens.