Thursday, April 17, 2008

Daily News Press Release on Del Air Education Team

Attn: Del Airs and Interested Guests,

Please scroll down for a press release that appeared in the Daily News on April 12, and was contributed by our very own Julie Marin.
It's things like this that keeps our club in the community spotlight. (Great job Julie, you're the BOMB!!!!)

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"Jim Van Winkle and Dick Flaharty give hands-on instruction to students at Capistrano Street Elementary School."

Provided by: Julia Marin


This team is certainly not nearly as well known as the Dodgers, the Lakers or even the local high school teams. This team is the Del Air Rockhounds Education Team and it's all about education.

The six-member team, led by Maxine Dearborn, is fast becoming quite well known among teachers and students of second and fourth-grade classes in the Valley.

The Del Air Rockhounds Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The
Education Team members are volunteers who donate their time to introduce students to the beauty and wonder of rocks and their formation, as well as many types of fossils.

The students get to view up-close the many exhibits such as a tooth from a mammoth, a replica of a sabre-tooth cat and petrified dinosaur dung. They get to ask questions and have hands-on experiences they might not otherwise have.

In just three months (February-April), the team will have visited 15 public and private schools in the Valley, teaching the students about the earth sciences. By the end of April, team members will have spoken to more than 2,000 students.

Capistrano Street School PTA invited the team to present its program to
the entire school. The team spoke to more than 400 students in two days and scored big with the grade-school audience.

The Del Air Rockhounds Club does not charge for the school
presentations, however, donations are gratefully accepted. A recent donation enabled the team to purchase several magnifying glasses for the students to use, making the exhibit an even more hands-on experience for future classes.

Anyone interested in learning more about the club is invited to attend
a meeting at 7:30 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at the United Methodist Church of Northridge, 9650 Reseda Blvd, Northridge CA.

Please visit
www.delairrockhounds.blogspot.com or e-mail DelAirRockhounds@gmail.com.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Del Air Rockhounds Spring School Fair Booth

Hello Again All Del Airs & Interested Guests,

Announcing: The Del Air Rockhounds Booth at the Our Community Charter School Spring Fair.

Date: April 26th 2008
Time: 9:30 am to 2:00 pm (set-up starts @ 9:00am)
Where: Our Community Charter School
16514 Nordhoff St.
North Hills, CA 91343

This is a school fair our club has been attending for the past 5 to 6 years now and they want us back again this year! We set up our booth and talk to kids and their parents about our hobby. We set up an educational table with touch and feel exhibits. We run our ever popular Spin-a-Wheel game, sell grab bags and cut geodes.

We will need a minmum of 6 members at all times to run this booth. This event proves to be very good for our treasury. It is also a lot of fun and as an added extra bonus it allows us to spread the word and spark an interest in rocks and minerals to the many people who will be visiting our booth. We are by far the most popular booth at this event each and every year.

As a special note to potential new members, this would be the perfect event to volunteer for as your participation is taken into account when the club members vote on new member acceptance. If you can spare the time just show up at the school at 9:00 am on Saturday April 26th and we'll find something for you to do.

May 2008 Mineral of the Month 'Fluorite'

May 2008 Mineral of the Month
Fluorite

From the Latin word ‘fluere” meaning ‘to flow’. The crystals formed by this mineral are cubic and octahedral in shape and are often twinned. Fluorite may also form in massive, granular and compact habits. It occurs in a great variety of colors, ranging from purple, green, colorless, white and yellow to pink, red, blue and even black. Fluorite forms in hydrothermal veins, especially those containing lead and zinc and also around hot springs. Fluorite is a fairly common mineral found all over the world and is associated with quartz, calcite, dolomite, galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, barite, and various other hydrothermal-vein minerals. As its name suggests, it can be highly fluorescent in ultraviolet light.


Its chemical properties are as follows:

Mineral Group.....................Halides
Chemical formula..............CaF
2
Specific Gravity..................3.1 to 3.3
Tenacity…………………...Brittle
Color.....................................Multiple
Hardness.............................4

Luster...................................Vitreous
Transparency....................Transparent to Translucent
Streak..................................White
Cleavage.............................Perfect Octahedral
Fracture...............................Conchoidal