The 2015 boxes.  I post them now, as we're starting to put together the 2016 boxes.

I haven't kept up with this, which is actually a lot like me.  Perhaps I'll get the kids more involved.  Here are this year's boxes.  A 30 specimen box and a new mineral box for my daughter, and my son's first 15 specimen box:

We got down in southeast Kansas for the first time and picked up our first sphalerite and galena.  We also had a pretty good year picking up several different sponges and cephalopods.

Geology Workbench

On our third year, Mom is sick of a house full of rocks.  We cleared out the back of the garage and built a geology workbench.  We'll use the top for current year's collection and the bottom for prior year's collection. We ran new electricity and insulated the wall.  Each of the stairs has a little shelf as well.  When we get the bottom built to match the top, we'll empty out our old gray drawers to the left and take another pic.


Right now we have some granite, diabase, and quartzite from Pottawatomie County, some chert from Riley County, and some sandstone from Clay County on the shelves.

2012 Summary

Here is my daughter's 15 specimen box for 2012.  She will do another 15 specimen box for 2013, and it will be her first year eligible for the state fair.

Fossils Mollusca Cephalopoda Scaphites Echinodermata Crinoidea plate Arthropoda Trilobita Ditomopyge pygidium Chordata Osteichthyes Enchodus teeth Chordata Osteichthyes vertebra Minerals Halite Marcasite Pyrite Quartz variety Jasper Milky Quartz Rocks Volcanic Ash Basalt Diorite Granodiorite Quartzite

Out in the chalk of Gove county:

Welcome to our family geology blog.

I've started this blog as a way to keep a record of our Kansas 4-H geology activities.  My daughter is starting her third year in 4-H, and my oldest son has started coming on trips with us.  My youngest son is still in the wings.

Here is my daughter's board for 2011. It included:

Fossils Chordata Osteichthyes vertebra Echinodermata Crinoidea stem Brachiopoda Articulata Neospirifer Chordata Chrondrichthyes tooth Mollusca Gastropoda Turritella Minerals Calcite Cone in cone structure Pyrite Garnet Quartz variety Selenite Barite Rocks Greenstone Rock Gypsum Quartzite Chalk Kimberlite

For the 2011 state trip, our campsite at Lake Perry in Jefferson county was littered with fossils: