KSA students celebrate Earth Science Week

Friday, Nov. 13, 2015

The 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-graders from Kearns-Saint Ann School recently took a field trip to the Utah Geological Survey Core Research Center to celebrate Earth Science Week.  

During the field trip students rotated through five hands-on activity stations. 

At the first station, students were able to create and destroy a river landscape in a stream trailer while learning about deposition and erosion. 

“I liked the erosion station because it showed you what could happen to your house if it’s on a sandy ledge,” said 2nd-grader Imanol Dominguez-Ruiz. 

Along with learning about erosion and rocks, KSA students examined dinosaur and ice age fossils while learning geologic history. Paleontologist Don DeBlieux met with the students to discuss the “Diabloceratops,” a new dinosaur species he discovered at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. 

While examining different dinosaur fossils was a big hit with the young students, the most popular station was where they panned for “gold” in panning troughs. They were able to pan for pyrite, magnetite and other minerals while learning that geology is fun.

Second-grader Pablo Miramontes thought the panning station was fun because “you got to see the names of the minerals you found on the chart, and then we got to take them home.” 

At the end of the field trip, students were presented with a take-home bag of different types of rocks and minerals. 

Courtesy of Kearns-St. Ann School