This Week in Earth Science 08/08/21

Oklahoma Mineral & Gem Show

We visited the Oklahoma Mineral & Gem Show in Oklahoma City last weekend so here's a look at some video we shot of the great event:

Goddard Youth Camp

The Goddard Youth Camp in Davis, OK has been teaching teachers and students about nature for decades.  The camp includes various hiking trails along the southern shore of the Lake of the Arbuckles and a museum with an impressive collection of natural history exhibits and specimens.  We were there recently to shoot some video.  Check it out below:

More Rocks in Your Head

Today the Oklahoma Geological Foundation and Oklahoma Mineral and Gem Society hosted another of their "More Rocks in Your Head" workshops for Oklahoma public school teachers with the goal of helping teachers incorporate earth science into their curriculum.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to attend and interact with the teachers.  Devin gave a brief presentation about our new project "Every Day Earth" and we got some great feedback.

The OGF also donated two of their Rock, Mineral and Fossil Kits as prizes for the teachers.  The workshop instructor, Edmond public school teacher Dick Opalka, and Devin pulled out some names for the lucky winners.

Congratulations to the two teachers who won!  Devin also gave a way a few copies of his book, "My Book of Rocks and Minerals."  Hopefully the materials and knowledge passed along will directly benefit the next generation of earth scientists!

STEM Education at the Ballpark

Recently Devon Energy and the OKC Dodgers celebrated STEM education by working with local schools and teachers for MVP Day!  Devin was there showing off rock and fossil specimens from the Oklahoma Geological Society.  Here's some video we shot during the event:

Geo-Walk: Dinosaur Ridge

Devin checks out some of the science behind Dinosaur Ridge near Denver in this new video:

GeoWalk: Hamilton Pool Preserve

Devin checks out some of the geologic features of Hamilton Pool Preserve near Austin, TX:

Geo-RoadTrip 2014

Here it is!

Geo-RoadTrip 2014: Scenery

Further down the road we arrived at an interesting geologic wonder known as Fossil Falls.  The name may be a little misleading since there's been no actual running water for a looong time.  But when there was, it helped to create the unique shapes in the basalt:

Our next stop took us to Red Rock Canyon State Park (not to be confused with Red Rock Canyon State Park in Oklahoma) which is the southernmost portion of the Sierra Nevada mountain range that we saw earlier.  Here's a quick look at some of what we saw:

Next up is a very famous fault!

Geo-RoadTrip 2014: Rock Shopping

After a little minor mountaineering we headed back to Lone Pine for the night and had some time to kill before dinner.  Luckily the Lone Pine Rock & Gift store was right in the middle of the town.  It was time to do a little geo-browsing.

They had a pretty good selection of specimens ranging from local rocks to those found far and away.  Here's a sample of some of the things we found:

Next up is our last stop in Lone Pine!

Arlington Gem & Mineral Show

Here's a quick look at some of the displays, activities and vendors at the Arlington (Texas) Gem & Mineral Show: