Field trippin' (Rocks, Minerals, and Earth Science for Homeschoolers, Part 2)

Continued from Part 1.  Now that you are thinking about rocks and earth science, and you're on board with the field trips, now what?  What do you take with you, where should you go to see the good stuff? 

Now, none of these things are mandatory to a good field trip experience, but they do help.  If you are a hiker, you've already got most of the important things.  This is my geology field trip packing list:

1. A small first aid kit.  Doesn't have to be fancy, but if you find yourself without at least band aids and moleskin, you're gauranteed to need them.  But I shouldn't even have to mention that, because you already have something like this in the car, and the little one would be superfluous, right?  Right?
2. Bags!  A comfy, roomy backpack to carry your gear (I like water bottle pockets and lots of nooks and crannies with a big central open area), and more ziplock baggies than you're going to expect, to carry the ever-important snacks, keep trash separate, and cart home small pebbly treasures.  Trust me on this one. 
3. A camera.  It is so pretty outside!  And kids are so cute!  And sometimes you need to take a picture of a flower or something you want to identify later.
4. A notebook.  If you make a habit of spending time outside in damp weather, rite-in-the-rain is a good idea.  If you are a fair-weather field tripper, whatever notebook you prefer. 
5. A magnifying glass or hand lens.  Any old magnifying glass will do, but if you are feeling fancy, my kids love to use my hand lens under my supervision.  Good optical quality, small, conveniently hangs around the neck on a lanyard.  Just gotta get your eye up close to the thing, that's the trick.  A student hand lens I wouldn't feel too bad about scratching up is this one.  I find having a magnifying glass or hand lens on me far more important than the next item...
6. A rock hammer.  Geologists use these to crack open rocks to see "fresh" material inside and kids just find it fun to bank on rocks, but they don't vary too much and you really don't need one for casual field trips.  Mine usually stays in the car.  Estwing makes the nicest rock hammers, but the budget models do fine for student use. 
7. Safety glasses.  If you are bringing #6, bring these too.  Shards of flying rock hurt.  Minimize the chance you'll need that first aid kit.  Buy cheap ones at the hardware store or kid-size ones online, not a big deal which kind because you're not wearing them very long.
8. Water and snacks.  Seriously.  Do not forget the water and snacks. 
9. Layers for conditions warmer or cooler than expected.  A change of socks can be a wise use of space. 
10. A hat, season dependent.  Toque for winter, wide-brimmed hat for summer.  Sometimes both but that's for the advanced class. 
11. Map of and/or to the destination and compass.  Not mandatory for your afternoon stroll at the beach on the other side of town, but anywhere unfamiliar or mountainous, a good idea.  We keep a Gazetteer in our car at all times, just in case a road trip breaks out.  If there is a specific destination in mind where we will be spending some time, I'll often have a specific map as well, which brings me to...

OK.  All packed up.  Now, where do we go? 

Good question!  I am often overwhelmed by too many options.  The way I see it, there's two kinds of field trips: the afternoon trip, and the destination trip.  Each has a slightly different kind of destination and mindset. 

The afternoon trip is somewhere nearby, within an hour or so, that you can see a little nature, low-key and easy.  Since we live in the Puget Sound, we have a couple state park beaches we like to visit on this kind of trip.  You get familiar with these areas and go to them more than once, and over time get to see the small changes that occur seasonally and yearly.   Other good choices for this kind of trip, depending on your location, could be a river delta, sand dunes, a rocky creek, a lakeside.

The destination trip is longer and gets you really outside the comfort zone.  Depending on how far you can travel, it can take a day or a weekend or a week.  Day trip destinations are good if they are 1-3 hours away and have lots of good interesting stuff to spend 4-6 hours when there.  Finding the day trip destinations can be tricky, since you often already think you've been everywhere in your area, but that is rarely really true. 

Good places to look for destination field trip location ideas:

1. State Parks.  Any you've missed? 
2. National Parks.  These places are our national treasures for a reason.  Don't just do the "car tour" if you can help it; after a liesurely stroll through the interpretive center, ask a ranger for recommendations for a good short hike and get away from the crowds.  Remember though not to collect any rock samples from these heavily-traveled and protected areas.
3. The website for your state's Department of Geology.  Sometimes it's called a Geological Survey, or is a part of a Natural Resources division, or something like that.  But every state has one.  Many of these state departments have education as a part of their mission statement and have good lists of local resources and field trip locations for you to browse.
4. Regional geology guidebooks.  There are Roadside Geology and/or Geology Underfoot guides published for many states.  While these books are written for adults, many kids also find them interesting to browse.   There is also a growing collection of regional geology guides/activity books for kids by Cynthia Brown being published for children that can be worth a look.
5. If you want to try rockhounding (intentionally looking for and collecting specific mineral specimens), hook up with your local rock and gem clubs for guidance. Rockhounding books exist and give information on where to find specific types of rocks/minerals in an area, but even with those guides it is often difficult to find specific things on purpose and the legalities regarding rockhounding vary from place to place.
6. Hiking guidebooks or websites like this one.  The point is just to go outside and look around, not find a world-class unique geological feature at every stop.  Most hiking guides for an area that bill themselves as "With Kids" or "Easy Day Hikes" have wonderful places in your area that kids can enjoy.  Sometimes you can cross-reference these hikes with the regional geology guidebook to help explain what you're seeing and that, is fun!
7. And one of my favorites--Serendipity!  Don't plan a specific destination.  Pick a direction and go.  Take a few turns in the road you've never taken before.  Take that Gazetteer with you and see what you find in that area you've never been. 

Now, you know where you're going, or you just got back and want to find out more about the pretty stones you found or that crazy rock formation or that big mountain.  Where to start for further reading and keep that enthusiasm going?  See Part 3.