Dinosaur and Other Art by Pebble Pups

We have a number of artists in the younger Pebble Pup group. We will continue training Pebble Pups in the various forms of art.  We have free art classes available this summer.  It is a very important skill to have in the Earth sciences. The most valuable item that a scientist or hobbyist has is his field notebook where they record where they are, what they are finding, and be able sketch the rock structures they observe.  Our Pebble Pup group carries this a little further by teaching the pups in various mediums.  Next school year (2012-2014) we will spend time on some of the literary aspects of the Earth sciences and continue to enter our work in newspapers, national magazines, international magazines, and for the first time enter our work in literary magazines.  At the current time we are working on publishing our own poetry chapbook.  Each poem published will be paired with the original artwork the Pebble Pup created to go along with the poem.  Some of the pages of the chapbook will be artwork and photography. We will have announcements about the chapbook and where it can be purchased. Several of the poems have already won national and state awards by poetry groups.  One Pebble Pup received a medal from the Poet Laureate of the United States.

 

 

  

Original watercolor © Steven Wade Veatch, Pebble Pup Leader

 

Comet, the Pebble Pup Mascot

Comet is the Pebble Pup mascot. He attends most of the Pebble Pups meeting and greets all the students, assistants, and instructors. He has a nice little bed he curls up in and takes a nap while we explore the various geological phenomena that surrounds us.



Original artwork © Jack Shimon

Mt Vesuvius Eruption

Fatal Eruption

by Victoria A.

 

 

 

Pastels and charcoal on paper. This drawing, which took 12 tissues, a box of pastels, a box of charcoal, a pink eraser, a kneadable eraser, a pencil sharpened 1,000 times and five drafts (including the final) to make what I imagine the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius may have looked like. Below it is an excerpt from the letters of Pliny the Younger, which gives us an amazing window into the life of Pompeii on that horrid day, August 24, 74 AD.

From the second letter of Pliny the Younger to Cornileius Tacitus, regarding the details of Pliny’s day after the eruption.

“At best the darkness thinned and dispersed like smoke or a cloud; then there was genuine daylight, and the sun actually shone out, but yellowish as it is during an eclipse. We were terrified to see everything changed, buried deep in ashes like snowdrifts. We returned to Misenium where we attended to our physical needs as best we could, and then spent an anxious night altering from hope to fear. Fear predominated, for the earthquakes, went on, and several hysterical individuals made their own and other peoples calamities seen ludicrous in comparison with their frightful predictions. But even then, in spite of the dangers we had been through and were still expecting, my mother and I still had no intention of leaving until we heard news of my uncle.” [paragraph 6]

Pebble Pup Field Trip Saturday, May 25, 2013

Join the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society and the Lake George Gem and Mineral Club Annual Historic Preservation Month field trip to the gold camp where this time we will tour the surface area of the Mery Nevin Mine. When that is over we will have a picnic in Victor's park and then have a two hour filed trip collecting rocks.

Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society Show

News from the Western Museum of Mining and Industry

The 50th Annual Pikes Peak Gem & Mineral Show

Out of the Heavens!

Friday, Saturday & Sunday, June 7 – 9, 9am to 5pm (Sunday until 4pm)

Western Museum of Mining & Industry

 

 

This year’s eventful weekend, produced by our partners from the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society, centers around an extraterrestrial rock that CRASHED through a home in Canon City, Colorado, with a special exhibit on meteorites from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science! This will be an adventure that includes:Keep What You Find gold panning lessons from the Gold Prospectors of Colorado; crystal, gem and jewelry exhibits and vendors; powerful working engines; the shrill whistle of our enchanting steam shovel; the rumble of our compressed air trammer; and the truly, one-of-a-kind operation of our thundering, 1890's Stamp Mill Gold and Silver Refinery; and more for the entire family! Cost is $5 for 13 and older; under 13 FREE! Call 719-488-0880 for more information.

Happy Mother's Day 2013

Happy Mother's Day to all the Pebble Pup mothers.  Thanks for all of your help in making this program a success.



CSMS Pebble Pup Earns Earth in Space Merit Badge

KATIE MORLAND

Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society Pebble Pup

Earth in Space Merit Badge 

May 2013

Activity 11.1: Modeling the solar system.

Each ball represents a planet in our solar system.  From left to right the planets are:
Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Earth, Venus, Mercury.

Activity 11.2: Learning about visitors from space.

Meteorite: A solid piece of space debris from asteroids or comets.  Known as “shooting stars” some burn up in the earth’s atmosphere and some reach earth’s surface.

Tektite:  A small rock produced by the impact of meteorites on the earth’s surface.  They are similar to obsidian.

Asteroid: Are solar system bodies or dwarf planets that orbit the sun. They do not show characteristics of a planet or a comet.

Comet:  Is an icy small Solar System body.  When close to the sun, they display a fuzzy atmosphere and sometimes a tail.

Comet:  The Pebble Pups Mascot Dog.

Activity 11.4: Collecting meteorites and tektites.

 

I obtained this Tektite from Mr. Steve

at one of our CSMS Pebble Pups meetings,