Pikes Peak Pebble Pups and Earth Science Scholars: April Merit Badge: Field Trips

The ultimate hands-on activity is a field trip. Little can replace the thrill of discovering a precious gemstone or a fossil first-hand. Also, a lapidary project has a lot more personal value and meaning if you collected the material yourself. But before you start down the road, you need to know the laws of your state and rules governing proper behavior for collectors and respecting private property. You also need to consider what you'll be collecting and how you'll collect it and then make plans to gather together the proper equipment.

Pebble Pup collecting fossil insects and plants at the Florissant Fossil Quarry

To earn your field trip merit badge, you must complete three of the following activities:

Activity 1: Trip etiquette. Learn and demonstrate the knowledge of the AFMS Code of Ethics (Google this).

Activity 2: Field trip planning. Choose a locality for a field trip from a guidebook for from suggestions by adult members in your club. Draw a map and directions to your site. List what you expect to find, then list the tools and supplies you'll need to collect and transport your finds home.

Activity 3: Going on a filed trip. (required to earn this badge): take a filed trip to a collecting locality. Be sure to follow proper field trip etiquette during the trip, and have fun. The club will soon post all field trip opportunities. There will be a Junior/Pebble Pup field trip on June 11. Look at the previous post.

Activity 4: Record keeping. start And maintain a "field journal" of what you did and what you found during your field trips in a composition of spiral-bound notebook, three-ring binder, or other record book or on the computer. Take notes while in the field and later write up a formal report including observations about the locality and specimens. Pinpoint where you found your rocks, minerals, or fossils, so that others could locate the spot. If you have a camera, illustrate your field journal with photos, or provide drawing that may prove useful to others wishing to visit the site.

Activity 5: The indoor field trip. Organize a field trip to a college geology department or to a museum. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is a good place to visit, so is the museum at the Colorado School of Mines. They have a specimen of Veatchite.