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Petrified wood has always fascinated me. It was a dream of mine to see this rock in person for a long time - one that I finally got to fulfill several years ago during an epic road trip out west. Petrified wood is a perfect example of a replacement fossil, which is a replica of something that was once alive, such as trees or sea creatures. The fossil forms when the living thing is trapped and … [Read more...]
Travertine {InstaScience}
We went for a hike on a trail that boasted some of the largest travertine deposits in the area. I was super excited to see these deposits in person, but when we got there - my excitement temporarily fell. It looked like a bunch of mud piled up everywhere - not so pretty - until we got up close and could really see the beauty in this sedimentary rock. Travertine is a type of limestone. It … [Read more...]
Sand {InstaScience}
As a mom, I hate the way it sticks to just about everything. And don’t get me started about how sand changes that quick snack you had planned to eat on the beach! But as a scientist, sand fascinates me. So, today as a part of our month of beach science - I, the scientist-side of me, am going to share with you all about sand. If you Google “sand images” you will come up with a huge variety of … [Read more...]
Gneiss {InstaScience}
[Photo Credit - Siim Sepp, used with permission under Creative Commons] As I write this, I have just finished another set of outlines for volume 5 in the Sassafras Science series. This one is all about geology, in other words, volcanoes, earthquakes, and rocks. One of the rocks that really caught my eye this time around was gneiss and I thought that I would share about it with you all this … [Read more...]
Scoria {InstaScience}
A few years back, we took a very long road trip out to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon. It was spectacular and I still can't really put into words how amazing it is to see this canyon in person. But a surprising highlight of our trip out there was a last minute addition, Sunset Crater National Monument. We were giddy at the chance to see a cinder cone volcano up close. Not only did we had the … [Read more...]
Basalt {InstaScience}
We found this super strange looking rock in a creek on our property. It’s quite large and very hard. I hate to admit it, but I was stumped. I’m more of a lab rat than a rock hound. So like any good homeschoolers, we looked it up and found out that our large grey chunk was actually a piece of basalt! Basalt is an igneous rock that forms when molten rock is extruded out of the ground during a … [Read more...]