Showing posts with label Workshops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Workshops. Show all posts

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Updates All Over...

There are many, many things going on at the Beagle right now, and I thought that I'd take a minute here to lay out a few of them for you, faithful reader:



New look website: the H.M.S. Beagle website has been updated to make it easier to navigate and use. If you have questions, comments, or problems, let me know via email - I've got a second generation of improvements planned, but this framework had to go in place first.

Social Networking: we've expanded our presence on Facebook and Twitter. The Twitter updates also fold neatly back into both the main website and this blog (they're over there on the right). Follow us on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, and keep up with all of the latest happenings at the Beagle. And make certain that you let us know if you became a fan, read the blog, or saw the main website after clicking through our advertisement on Facebook - it'll help us to keep track of how effective those adverts are!

Workshops, Workshops, Workshops: under the Events / Activities tab on the website, you'll find all of the things that we're doing, including the Events Calendar, with all sorts of useful information; updates on our Astronomy-related activities, including Star Parties, Telescope Basics Workshops, and Star-Hopping Workshops; additionally, we have Workshops in Chemistry, Electronics, Robotics, Rocks & Minerals, and Rocketry planned for the summer, take a look at those listings as well!

Fossil Digs: we're very, very excited about our upcoming Fossil Digs, including our First Trilobite Jam in Delta, Utah this July, and our usual Science Club fossil digs in June. Make sure that you plan to attend, and let us know via email if you have questions!

Special Events: right now, we're delighted to be planning a party on a Sunday, 11 April 2010 for Yuri's Night, and international celebration of manned spaceflight (sadly, I'll be out of town for this, but I'm hoping we'll get to swing by the one in San Francisco). The Beagle's Yuri's Night fun will include a showing of "October Skies", free rocket launches (bring your rocket!) in association with the Kansas City Rocketry Association (KCAR), and an evening of star-gazing with Leif! All of this fun is free for the whole family (weather permitting, of course); check out our Special Events Page for more information.


So that's what we've been doing, instead of writing blog entries... There's a great deal going on at the Beagle, and we hope that you'll stop in, sign up, and support us in continuing to provide great science-based activities in the Kansas City area!


Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Mineral Identification Workshop: Follow-Up and Bibliography

While we're on the subject, thanks to everyone who came out for the mineral identification workshop on Saturday, 8 August. We had a lively time and I hope that everyone got something out of it. If you missed it, and are interested in attending a future session, let us know in the comments or by emailing me. I felt that we could have covered more experimentation and less discussion, but as this was the first time out, I wasn't sure how time would ultimately play out. Future sessions will have more direct work of identification, and a lot more discussion of reactions and the chemistry that governs them. It will give me an excuse to do more reading and practising, after all...

In the meantime, here's the bibliography from the workshop. This is by no means every book out there; rather, it is just a selection of what I used in putting together some of the tests and gathering the necessary background material.

Bibliography


  • Audubon Society. Audubon Society Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978.

  • Landauer, J. Blowpipe Analysis. Second, Revised Edition. Translated by James Taylor. Bradley, IL: Lindsay Publications, 1984.

  • Lewis, J. Volney and Hawkins, A.C. A Manual of Determinative Mineralogy with Tables, 4th Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1931.

  • Peck, Donald B. Mineral Identification: A Practical Guide for the Amateur Mineralogist. Tucson, AZ: The Mineralogical Record, 2007.

  • Pellant, Chris. Rocks and Minerals (Smithsonian Handbooks). New York: Dorling Kindersley, Inc., 2002.

  • Pough, Frederick B. A Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals, Fifth Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1988.

  • Sinkankas, John. Gemstone and Mineral Data Book. New York: Collier Books, 1972.

  • Vanders, Iris and Kerr, Paul. Mineral Recognition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1967.


Useful Websites and Journals


Thanks again, and happy rock hunting!