Roxaboxen

Thing one and I have been reading Roxaboxen this week for school (next week, too). It is a great story written by Alice McLerran, illustrated by Barbara Cooney about a bunch of kids using their imagination to make a "city", how they design it, and other aspects as well.

It seemed fitting, that while we were at Toys R Us, of all places, and I found Crystals and Gemstones Mining Kit, by Edu Science, that we should buy it. I hadn't reviewed the lesson's yet, but it just "spoke" to me and knowing that the boys love hands on science, it had to come home with us.

Here's the gypsum block with crystals and gemstones buried inside, before the boys had an opportunity to start chiseling.



The beginnings of getting into the block and taking a look at the outside. It looked like it had been fossilized along with a dinosaur and was rough feeling,









The first gem found was red jasper.









Here are Thing One and Thing Two making sure that all gems had been found. Lots of mess, lots of fun. Some how those two always go together.









When all was said and done, four gems where found. Red Jasper, Rose Quarts, Jade, and the one without a card is Rock Crystal Quartz. It was a neat way to be able to show the boys how rocks get polished through sand storms or even in a river. They didn't quite grasp the time element, but that can be saved for another day.