Rice Rock Museum
/On Wednesday we had an opportunity to take a field trip to the Rice Rock Museum. We got to see some incredible rocks and gems. A huge thank you to our volunteers who helped on this trip and to Mr. Mark for the beautiful photos. Some of the highlights of our trip were:
Rainbow gallery- Rocks in the rainbow room contained minerals that emit a rainbow of colors when exposed to ultraviolet light.
Petrified wood collection- We examined samples of petrified wood from over 300 million years ago!
Fossil gallery- We observed fossils of sea creatures, dinosaur eggs, and a baby psittacosaurus.
Rock cycle exhibition- We explored rocks in various stages in the rock cycle: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igenous. There were hands-on activities for students to explore in this room.
Northwest gallery- We learned that Oregon’s state rock is the thunderegg and our state gem is the sunstone. We saw a large thunderegg called meatball and examine a map of where different rocks and gems can be found in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
Meteorite display- We observed real rocks from space
Dig pit- Students had a chance to dig for a rock to take home. There was much deliberation over which rocks to choose.
Here are some student reflections about our field trip to Rice Rock Museum:
