Canadian Rockhound: New Young Toronto Mineralogists Club Teaches Children about Minerals

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Young Toronto Mineralogists Club

New Young Toronto Mineralogists Club Teaches Children about Minerals

By Len Buchanan, Toronto

In September about 20 children, along with their parents, attended the first meeting of the new Young Toronto Mineralogists Club (YTMC) in Toronto. Both young and old listened attentively and enthusiastically to speakers Olena Dingledein on "What is a Mineral?" Brian Joyce on "How to Handle Specimens", Dave Joyce on "Collecting Safety and Equipment", and Melita Scheffel on "Hardness". Bev Mikel set up a beautiful display of minerals that exhibited strong colour and shape variance, while Mary Joyce introduced and thanked the speakers.

Kathleen Kemp giving a demonstration on crystal cleavage.

The idea for a mineral club for youth began November 2000, when the Walker Mineralogical Club executive arranged a special "think tank" meeting to decide how best to promote mineralogy as a hobby and expand club services. One of the suggestions was to create a youth club. Other clubs within the Toronto area were invited to participate and an independent committee was organized to set up the youth club. The Toronto clubs promoted the idea to their members and the Central Canadian Federation of Mineralogical Societies (CCFMS) accepted the new youth club as a member.

Dave Joyce, Brian Joyce, Mary Joyce and Len Buchanan met regularly from May to September 2001 and contacted several organizations and corporations for contributions of time, money, materials or help. A location was selected, a name was picked, speakers were recruited and displays arranged. Many contributed funds, including the Walker Mineralogical Club, Cameco Corporation, J-C. Potvin, and Goldcorp Inc. Others contributed books, mineral specimens and time. And finally, the Gem and Mineral Club of Scarborough provided space to promote the new youth club at their annual show held in September.

Children admiring various colourful minerals on display.

At the first meeting of the YTMC, it was evident that the kids "knew their stuff"! The questions they asked showed an amazing depth of understanding. All the children participated in the "Whatsit?" contest, where children identified a selection of mineral specimens on a table, including the location where the mineral came from, if they knew it. The winner, the person who identified the most specimens correctly, got to pick his or her favourite specimen to take home as a prize. Second place got second pick, etc. Some of the minerals featured at the September meeting included native silver, sphalerite, and quartz.

Parents and children that attended the meeting came from the greater Toronto area, including Holland Landing, Pickering and Mississauga. They had heard about YTMC through local mineral clubs, the Scarborough Gem & Mineral Show, and through teachers and friends. Children also explained their stories of how their interest in minerals had been sparked by everything from a geologist grandparent to seeing rock and mineral displays at the Scarborough show. A few parents asked if their families could just sit in; perhaps joining later if they thought the meetings would interest their kids - and then signed up within the first few minutes! Other parents expressed an interest in directly helping run the club. Currently the membership is 30% girls and 70% boys and mainly consists of 8 year olds, though ages range from 8 to 13.

A demonstration on mineral hardness.
Dave Joyce giving a demonstration on collecting equipment and safety.

The second meeting held in October was just as successful with numbers rising to 25 or so children. Len Buchanan started off the meeting by reviewing some of the key information presented at the September meeting. The main speaker of the day was Kathleen Kemp of the University of Toronto, who gave two talks: one on "Colour in Minerals" and the other on "Cleavage and Fracture in Minerals". Dave Joyce presented another talk on "Safety and Collecting Equipment".

The Young Toronto Mineralogists Club meets on a monthly basis at the North Toronto Memorial Community Centre, 200 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto. For more information about the YTMC and for meeting dates and times, visit the YTMC website at www.ytmc.org.

Reprint instructions:

This article may not be copied, distributed or reprinted in any form without the author's permission. To contact the author, please use the e-mail address provided. If you are unable to contact the author, please contact the Canadian Rockhound. Authorized reprints must acknowledge the author, original source and the Canadian Rockhound, and include the website URL address of the Canadian Rockhound.

The preceding article was first published in the October 2001 newsletter issue (Vol. 101, No. 11) of the of the Walker Mineralogical Club. Reprinted with modifications in the Canadian Rockhound with permission. Photograph provided courtesy of YTMC.