Most of these activities can be integrated into other curriculum, are fun for students, easy and inexpensive for teachers to do in their classroom.

Hands-on Educational Activities

The Education Foundation trains WIM representatives to make presentations and lead the specific activities. Woolford’s favorite activity is matching the mineral with the product made from it.

“Most people, including geologists, can’t get them all right,” she said.

At a presentation during the National Convention in April, she provided participants with a box filled with minerals from Nevada along with a paper bag filled with products to match those rocks. Each item, such as a piece of fabric, paint or PVC pipe, had to be matched to the mineral found in the item.

“It’s good to start with the basics,” Woolford said. “All of these minerals are mined in Nevada.”

Many of the activities can be downloaded from the WIM website. The activities are developed for specific grade levels but can be used in any workshop to demonstrate many aspects of mining in Nevada.