Education

General

The El Dorado County Mineral and Gem Society is a 501c3 non-profit educational organization. We work to educate, inform, and share interests about Rocks, Minerals, Fossils, Earth Sciences and Lapidary Arts with the public, Society members and students in El Dorado County.

Monthly meetings with informative presentations and fun activities help educate and inform community members, young and old, more about earth sciences and local geology and mining history. The Junior Rockhounds program has activities for children 5-17years old. The Juniors enjoy educational activities and presentations relevant to inquiring minds.

The El Dorado County Mineral and Gem Society also sponsors a variety of events like field trips, lapidary classes, jewelry arts classes, mineral displays, and monthly meetings to further our educational goals and outreach. Society members make and fill grab bags with rock and mineral samples. Donated proceeds go directly to the scholarship fund.

Application

The club contributes annually to an Earth Science and Lapidary Arts Scholarship fund to benefit college-bound students from El Dorado County who will be majoring in an earth-science-related field. The scholarship fund also provides for Society members to attend Camp Paradise, an intensive and immersive opportunity to learn new lapidary and jewelry arts and related skills.

The attached application form must be used exclusively. Applications must be postmarked no later than Mar 1st. Applications should be sent to: El Dorado County Mineral and Gem Society, PO Box 950, Placerville, CA 95667

Scholarship Application

School Education Outreach

Society members work with the El Dorado County Office of Education and western-slope school district teachers to provide mineral and mining lessons and resources. Our emphasis is on El Dorado County minerals, mining, and history. Volunteer members bring Next Generation Science Standards-based lessons to classrooms upon request. To request more information, or schedule a lesson for your classroom, please contact (society email address) and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Educational Resources

Lessons developed by EDCG&MS:
Introduction to Fluorescent Minerals (grades 4-6) (Science of the Comstock)

Lessons under development:
    The Rock Cycle (Grades ½)
    Minerals Role in Fossilization (Grade 3)
    Earth and Human Activity (Grade 4)
    A Paste with a Taste (Grade 5)
    Field Trip – Traverse Creek Special Interest Area (Grades 4-12)

Other recommended lessons/earth science resources:
CA State Parks (parks.ca.gov) – Adventures in learning
CA Mineral Museum (camineralmuseum.org)

Museum field trip
K-12 geology and history lessons

    USGS (usgs.gov – resources for teachers)
    Gold Bug Park (goldbugpark.org) CA mining history lessons
    Keck Mineral Museum – University of Nevada, Reno (unr.edu)

Museum field trip
Traveling Mineral Kits
- Physical Properties of Minerals
- Nevada Minerals: properties and uses
- Fluorescent Minerals
Mineral Monday videos

Nevada Division of Minerals (minerals.nv.gov)

Distance learning videos (data-neomycin.open data.arcgis.com)
Classroom activities (nevadamining.org)
K-12 teacher materials (minerals.nv.gov)
- K: 3 Little Pigs
- 1st: The Rock Cycle
- 2nd: The Rock Cycle with Delilah
- 3rd: Minerals Role in Fossils
- 4th: Earth and Human Activity
- 4th-12th: Nevada Mining Activity
- 5th: Mineral Properties and Uses (9 minerals)
- 5th: Paste with a Taste
- 6-8th: Mineral ID and Social Utility (19 minerals)
- 6-12th: Understanding Maps
- 9-12th: Drilling for Energy
- 9-12th: Mineral Resources and Reserves

Fluorescent Lesson Plan