The chert gravel deposits of the lower Mississippi River valley were formed by glacial and alluvial processes, which tumbled and smoothed stones from all over the drainage of that great basin, from Montana to Minnesota to Pennsylvania and every place in between. The fossils found in the chert gravels of the the lower Mississippy valley… Continue reading Mississippi Valley Chert Gravel Fossils
Category: Teaching Children
Building the Tree House
I put off building a tree house for my son because I didn’t want to damage the beautiful maple tree in the backyard by hammering nails. (Nails in trees are an entry point for fungi and other diseases.) Then it occurred to me that I could support the framing for the deck in the Y… Continue reading Building the Tree House
Painting Rocks
I spend afternoons with my son, and now that the summer heat is here in full force, it makes doing things outdoors during our time less than ideal. Fortunately, I remembered that I had a box of studio-grade acrylic paints that I had saved from years ago, and I knew that my son liked finding… Continue reading Painting Rocks
Acorn Adventures
I wanted to teach my son about oak trees because I grew up learning about the outdoors constantly from my father and great uncles, who always pointed out different trees, plants, insects, animals, what animals ate, where things grew, if it migrated, was it native, etc. It was easy for me to take all that… Continue reading Acorn Adventures
Planting the Three Sisters
My son had to teach a lesson in third grade, some activity he was good at, and when I heard him propose something about video games, I immediately suggested planting the three sisters and pushed the idea hard. I didn’t give my son time to suggest other ideas and come up with his own, which… Continue reading Planting the Three Sisters