Blast from the Past: Element Talk Show

Atom Unit Report Booklet.

Element Talk Show page. Note volcano lamp, James Randi picture, and
artwork (by Randi's talented partner) in the background. Click to enlarge.

I've been sorting through more boxes today (trying to finally pack up all my books and notes!), and I've found a box that contains reports, drawings, and other assignments from my elementary school days. I can't date most of these reports exactly, but they are definitely from my 2nd through 6th grade days. I was a student at a Montessori school in Vermont back then. I actually attended Montessori schools from pre-K through 8th grade. Montessori schools encourage creativity, among other things, and boy did I have some creative assignments. In Montessori school students tend to work on themed units, which can last a week to a few months. During this time, students study and produce work related to that theme.

Here's a gem of a story, from my report booklet on the "Atom Unit." I believe that I wrote this story (with my friend Joy) in 4th grade. I was (still am) *such* a weirdo and nerd, even back in elementary school. All punctuation, spelling, and grammar are original. Enjoy!

Update: I just noticed that I wrote the year (1994) on the back of the report. So, I was 10 years old and in either 4th or 5th grade when I wrote this report.


Element Talk Show

Interviewer: Today on E.T.S. we are going to interview Miss Fluorine and here she comes now.

Fluorine: Hello all you fans I'm Fluorine. Any Hydrogens out there? I'm a little jumpy I only have seven electrons.
(sits down)

GeoLOLCats

Dana Hunter, Callan Bentley, and Lockwood DeWitt have started a new geoblog meme-- GeoLOLCats! Seems that many geobloggers have adorable kittehs, and we're LOLing pictures of cats that have geology themes.

If you're unfamiliar with LOLCats, see here. For the GeoLOLCats, you can see entries here and here, including some LOLs starring my two beautiful cats Samira (calico) and Zayna (black-and-white with a funny mustache). Like cats and geology? Feel free to join us in this meme!

Just this evening, my cat Samira-- who is very fluffy-- provided me with another great LOLCats pose. Below are the original picture and my LOLed version.

By the way, the booklet Samira is lying on is a "Rocks and Minerals Unit" report that I put together back in 3rd or 4th grade at my Montessori School. I will be featuring some material from this report in future "Blast from the Past" posts. There's even a (rhyming!) poem about the rock cycle. I was such a nerd, even back in elementary school.

Samira the fluffy, original photo. Woods Hole, MA, May 2011.

Samira the fluffy, LOLed. Woods Hole, MA, May 2011.

Interesting Search Terms That Found My Blog

For the past little while, I have been keeping track of some interesting search terms that found my blog. These are just a sampling of ones that I happened across. I've put some "answers" below the search terms. Hope you enjoy. Happy Friday!

what is at the center of any self respecting volcano (4/5/11)
Answer: The lair of a mad scientist.

is jurassic park too scary for 8 yr old (4/6/11)
Answer: My grandmother took me to see Jurassic park in theaters when I was 9 years old, and I was very, very scared and had nightmares about velociraptors. However, the movie also helped inspire my interest in geology & dinosaurs.

synonym: hot liquid that come from tsunami in japan  (4/6/11)
Answer: Oil and gas that caught on fire? The only thing worse than a tsunami is a tsunami ON FIRE.

what is komatiite used for today (4/8/11)
Answer: Many komatiites are mined for diamonds.  D'oh, that would be kimberlites. Thanks for the correction, Chuck. More here.

is there a volcano in japan (4/9/11)
Answer: Yes. Many, actually.

dress code geology convention (4/10/11)
Answer: Recommended dress code for a geology convention is a t-shirt with a dinosaur and/or a geology pun on it, hiking pants, and teva sandals with socks.

I Want a Meteorite to Hit My House

I like meteorites. I think it would be very cool if one struck my house, as long as I, my fiance, and my two adorable kitties made it through the impact okay. Alas, while many, many meteorites hit our planet every year, they rarely fall on houses. However, just a few weeks ago a meteorite hit a house in Poland. Thanks to Phil Plait and Ryan Brown for the tip-off on this story. I wonder... if  a meteorite hits your house or car, do you think insurance covers the damage?

A few years back on Skepchick, I jokingly asked for my house in Boston to be hit be a meteorite.. Unfortunately, God had poor aim and hit Bloomington, Illinois instead (though there's a chance this wasn't a real meteorite at all-- anyone know the result of the scientific investigation?).

Note: I am a happy atheist, though I harbor no ill will against most religious people, including many members of my family. I hope no one who is religious takes offense at my tongue-in-cheek joking about asking God to hit my house with a meteorite. At least, I hope my jesting doesn't keep you from reading this blog, which I try to keep geology-focused. I'll only rant here about religion if you tell me the Earth is only 6,000 years old or if you tell me some nonsense such as that the rapture (raptor?) is coming this weekend.

Geology Word of the Week: Y is for Yardang

Yardangs 1. Photo courtesy of Michael Welland.

Cross-posted at Through the Sandglass. 

def. Yardang (also sometimes: jardang):
An elongated erosional landform, commonly found in deserts, resembling the hull of an inverted boat. Similar to sand dunes, yardangs typically have a tall, steep side facing the prevailing wind direction and slope gently down away from the wind. Yardangs are formed when looser material is eroded away (primarily by the wind and particle abrasion), leaving behind more consolidated material that is then sculpted into strange, ship-like shapes by further erosion. Yardangs most commonly form in soft rocks such as siltstone and sandstone (rocks commonly found in deserts) but can also form in harder rocks in places where the wind is the primary erosional force. The word yardang is of Turkish origin coming from the word "yar" which means "steep bank or precipice." According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word yardang was first introduced to the English language in 1904 by the Swedish explorer Sven Anders Hendin.

Geology Word of the Week: X is for Xenolith

Mafic xenolith, Ontario, Canada, 2002. Photo Credit: Ron Schott.

Note: Sorry for the re-post. This post was lost and then mangled somewhat in the blogger mishap last week. I managed to correct the post, but I had to re-post it under a new day and time.   

def. Xenolith:
A foreign rock inclusion, usually in an igeneous rock.

3D Dinosaur Stamps

 Postcard for Dinosaur-lover Brian Switek, South Africa, May 2011.

Note: Sorry for the re-post. This post was lost and then mangled somewhat in the blogger mishap last week. I managed to correct the post, but I had to re-post it under a new day and time. 

Just before I left South Africa several days ago, my fiance and I went to the post office to buy some international postcard stamps.

The clerk handed me the five stamps I requested, and I turned to my fiance and said, "Cool! Dinosaur stamps!"

My fiance and I looked more closely at the stamps, and he said, "Huh, that's funny. They're blurry."

I replied, "Oh, that's too bad. Maybe they weren't printed properly?"

For a moment, I was dismayed at the poor quality of the South African stamp printing system. Then I realized I was mistaken. The South African stamp printing system wasn't bad. It was awesome! Far more awesome than the American one, in fact.

I shouted, "Wait... I think they're 3D!"

Several customers in line behind us gave us whimsical looks as my fiance and I excitedly chattered about our 3D dinosaur stamp discovery. The clerk just smiled. 

After finishing our shopping, we headed back to our apartment and managed to find a set of 3D glasses. Yes, we are geeky enough to have 3D glasses at home. Sure enough, the dinosaur stamps jumped to life when viewed with 3D glasses! We have decided that these are the coolest stamps EVER.

Here is some more information on the 3D South African dinosaur stamps:
3D Dinosaur Stamps on StampsWiki

The stamps show five different African dinosaurs. There are two images of each dinosaur: one of the skeleton and one as the dinosaur may have looked in the flesh.

Dinosaur stamps- skeletons. Image from StampsWiki.

Dinosaur stamps- in the flesh. Image from StampsWiki.

Of course, I had to send a postcard with a dinosaur stamp on it to dinosaur-lover Brian Switek. If you haven't already, I recommend checking out Brian's Wired Science blog Laelaps.