A Glowing Example Of Geology Education: An Inspirational Tale
Douglas E. Liniger, CPG-09306 Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)
As a geologist, it is almost a prerequisite to have some sort of a rock collection. I have been a rock collector since I cannot remember when. Some of the most interesting pieces that I’ve collected are fluorescent specimens. I became interested in fluorescent minerals when I went on a weekend geologic field trip with a friend in the military. He was from Sterling, New Jersey, where some of the most brilliantly colored speci- mens can be found. After stopping by a road cut with just a small ultraviolet (UV) light, I was mesmerized by the bright orange, green and blue colors I saw. I started collecting small pieces that would fit nicely in a box and pull them out when the mood struck me. Until approximately 2013, the collection was intended only for my personal interests. That all changed with the budgetary stalemate on school funding in the State of Illinois.
The UV light source I had been using for years was mounted to the top of the display direct- ly over the minerals, with disappointing results. The UV light source was a small, ½ watt fluorescent tube, similar to the one that came with our kid’s toy detective kit (finger- print lamp). The higher the wattage in the UV lamp, the more the electrons are excited in the outer valence shell, which results in the brighter, more vivid colors being emit- ted. So we started researching for economical alternatives. We decided on a 4-watt model from the mid-1970s. The unit
Students learning about fluores- cent minerals
arrived in about ten days and we were pretty excited. This unit had both short and long-wave UV bulbs. The minerals looked great in my dark basement, but when I brought the display up to a room with more light, it just didn’t come close to something that would be of interest to kids.
A variety of fluorescent mineral specimens from various world-wide localities from the student traveling collection.
In 2013, the State failed to provide approximately $1,000,000 of the allotted funds that were designated for the school district that our children attend. Budgets were cut, teachers let go and programs eliminated. Programs in the sciences and arts seemed to be affected the most. My wife and I, both being scien- tists, wanted to do something. My wife suggested that we build a display for the school district to use for teaching students about the unique and fascinating properties of mineral fluores- cence. So I put my rudimentary carpentry skills to work and we built a display box with shelves to hold several specimens.
Certainly novices regarding fluorescent minerals, we started researching the topic. We looked at new light sources. There were several available that might fit the project, but they were certainly well outside of our budget. My wife found a fluorescent mineral group on social media. In that forum, we told people what we were planning to do with the collection. Once we met up with knowledgeable folks, we were able to con- nect with a manufacturer of various light sources. We spoke to the marketing manager and told her of the mineral collection and what we intended to do for the school. Apparently, the company has a program to specifically support these types of projects. She offered us a refurbished 18 watt lamp with short, mid and long-wave bulbs for a great price. She also included several hand-sized, very bright specimens in the package to augment the collection. Counting her donated specimens, we now had around 20 nice pieces to share with the classes. We were ready for the our children’s classes to use the display.
During the parent/teacher introduction night at the begin- ning of the next school year, we shared photos of the collection under light with our kid’s science teachers and offered it on loan for their classes. Our daughter’s 6th grade science teacher jumped at the chance to use it. We delivered the display at the beginning of the school week and gave the initial demon- stration. The teacher was going to have the collection for the rest of the week and asked if other classes in the school could
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