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Der Wendy,
The Indianapolis Children's Museum has a nice fossil dig area with the
kind of matrix you describe. I do not know the best person to contact
there, but suggest you send an inquiry to them.
Many places are shying away from using Plaster of Paris because of
health concerns regarding inhaling Plaster of Paris dust. I do not know
if this is a real concern, but my recollection is that Indianapolis does
not use Plaster of Paris in its matrix.
Dennis
"Work hard to find something that fascinates you. When you find it you
will know your lifework" -- Richard Feynman
Dennis Schatz
Vice President for Education
Pacific Science Center
200 Second Ave. No.
Seattle, WA 98109
Phone - 206-443-2867
Fax - 206-443-3631
Pacific Science Center is an independent, not-for-profit educational
institution that inspires lifelong interest in science, math and
technology.
Special Exhibit Now Open: Colossal Fossils: Dinosaurs Around the World.
-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jonah Cohen
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 8:15 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: matrix for fossil dig
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
************************************************************************
*****
I'm no expert on solid-state fossil matrices, but... We had a class some
years ago that used plaster of paris cookies which kids had to dig
fossils out of. Here's why we had to scrap it:
Timing. Once you put the fossils (we just used shark teeth, uber-cheap)
in the plaster, you had to wait, IIRC, a couple days for the stuff to
dry or it would be too soft and too easy to get the fossil out of. But
if you kept the things around too long, they got rock hard and nearly
impossible to get through. I discovered this when, like a good little
outreacher, I tried whipping up a large supply of cookies ahead of
time...
Has the addition of saqnd solved this problem, Wendy? If so, I'd love to
hear this recipe, too. We've had some success with an exhibit where we
used used a sand/wax matrix. Worked ok, though it was a little smelly to
create. I'll see if I can find that recipe.
Jonah Cohen
Outreach & Public Programs Manager
The Children's Museum
Double, double, toil and trouble
Particle accelerator CERN
And space telescope Hubble
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