"The rock I'd seen in my life looked dull because in all ignorance I'd never thought to knock it open. Rock collecting was opening mountains. It was like poking about in a grimy alley and finding an old, old coin. Nothing was as it seemed. The earth was like a shut eye. Pry open the thin lid and find a crystalline intelligence inside, a rayed and sidereal beauty. Crystals grew inside rock like arithmetical flowers. They lengthened and spread, adding plane to plane in awed and perfect obedience to an absolute geometry that even the stones-maybe only the stones-understood." ~Annie Dillard
Rocks…why study rocks? There are so many reasons! History of the earth and discovery of true beauty are a couple that pop into my mind. Fourth grade students have been studying rocks and minerals in science for many different reasons. Mrs. Madigan noted in her newsletter that, “Geologists should have keen eyes and be good at selecting the correct tools to use in their work. Geologists are discoverers and should always look for patterns and make educated guesses using the knowledge they have.” The things discovered from a simple rock can be quite amazing. The fourth graders made some amazing discoveries when they tried to identify rocks and minerals in class last week. I wonder if they will look at simple rocks in the same way ever again!
Please consider joining our parent coffee book study of The
Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey. If
you plan to join please let me know, so we can reserve a spot for you. The next parent coffee will be on Tuesday,
January 5th at 8:00. I hope
to hear from you and see you there!
Have a wonderful week!
Mrs. Baier
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