Fools Gold

Three Hundred Fifteenth Post: Fools Gold

Me and my dad were outside tonight and the light from the garage was shining on the lawn. If you look at the lawn from the right angle there is all kinds of sparkling, glitter-like fragments. Upon further inspection, we found the glitter is coming from a sandstone like rock. This material could be the reason we couldn’t get premium grade grass to grow. The salesman said it would grow in the shade. We spread it and took care of it, but it hasn’t really covered the ground in thick patches.

We’ll I’m not a geologist. I can’t tell what the fragments and speckles are. They are not magnet, so they could be metal deposits or just a shiny mineral. They are so small I don’t know what test could be used on them.

This reminds me of when I was in grade school in the fifth grade. The sixth grade class was given an essay test. The scenario was you are on a secluded island and you have discovered what you think to be a valuable rock. What do you do? The answer given by most of the students was to dig a big piece and fly around the world with it and collect their money. They then wrote how they would sell the rocks and collect their millions. One student and only one student wrote that he would test the rock through simple test he had learned in science class. The popular answer, though absurd, is what you think a young student would write. However the one student got the idea behind the essay.

A simple experiment with magnets or testing the soil in the backyard can really provide a good foundation of scientific experience for younger students. When your older and have learned the basics you realize how far the basics you learned in experimenting or theory prepared you for college and beyond.

But until I test to see what the mineral is... May the Creative Force be with You