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 Sally Aukamp, a teacher at Lincoln Community High
School, joined another thirty-five elementary, middle, high school
and junior college teachers to refresh their knowledge of earth
science and learn so much more about the importance of various
minerals and aggregates including crushed stone, sand and gravel.
“Rocks and minerals are used in the foundation of our homes,
shingles on the roof, and nearly every material in between, as well
as a wide variety of essential products including medicine, food,
and electronics,” said Shawn McKinney, IAAP Outreach Manager.
“Teachers even made their own toothpaste using limestone and other
ingredients.”
Lectures and hands-on activities presented by government, industry
and academic professionals explored Illinois geology, fossils,
aggregate mining, and the rocks and minerals used to make common
products. Hands-on activities, such as cookie mining, birdseed
mining and layer cake core drilling, provide fun and exciting ways
to engage students in learning about geological processes and mining
economics. Seminars including Life Cycle of a Mine: Exploration,
Operation, Sustainability and Reclamation and Good Stone – Bad
Stone, helped to illustrate the connection between the products we
use today and the raw material source.
Workshop fieldtrips included visits to active mining sites operated
by William Charles Construction – Materials Division in Belvidere
and Roger’s Ready-Mix & Materials in Byron, Illinois where teachers
toured mining operations, witnessed crushed stone and gravel
processing, asphalt production and recycling, and searched for
fossils present in limestone. Capping off a day of learning about
the geological history of the world and fossils found in Illinois,
teachers toured the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford to
view dinosaur fossils and other plants, animals and depictions of
habitats from Earth’s past. A visit to Baumann Park in Cherry Valley
highlighted the cooperative efforts between the city and an
aggregate mining company to mine out sand and gravel with the
intended purpose of transforming the landscape into a park with
numerous amenities for the community.
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 All of the information and activities presented, as well as
numerous educational materials provided to the teachers, were
designed to have practical applications for students in their
classrooms. Teachers completing the workshop received continuing
professional development credit and optional graduate degree
hours from Illinois State University.
This was the eighteenth year for the rocks, minerals & mining
workshop. Sponsorship for Sally Aukamp was provided by a
contribution from aggregate producing company Hanson Material
Service. The IAAP is the trade association serving the stone,
sand, gravel and non-coal industrial mineral mining industry in
Illinois.
[Text received; ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION
OF AGGREGATE PRODUCERS]
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