Today was a different kind of day. I gave a presentation to a group of school kids – – second- and third-graders to be exact. The classes where my grand-kids attend school, to be even more exact. What about? – – WOOD.

Last year, I did a similar thing for the first time, so the boys could see and share some geodes that we brought back for them from the desert. We talked about geodes and where they come from, and cut open a couple of them. I got such a good reaction (from kids and teachers) that I decided to do a similar thing again.

Why Wood? Simply because it seemed like a general topic that all the kids would find some interest in.

It went very, very well. I had three large posters covering basic wood facts, from trees to seeds to tree-rings. I also had a bin full of samples, including one piece of wood (African ebony) that does NOT float! I used the bin, full of water, to demonstrate the difference between ebony and balsa woods.

I showed them how pounding a nail works in soft woods but not so great in the harder woods. I showed them how tree rings can help weather analysts determine when rainy and drought years occur.

Not only was it fun to teach cool stuff to young kids, it was also gratifying to know that I’d given them some knowledge – maybe a little, maybe a lot – that would last a lifetime.

At the end of my talk, I handed out oak-slice samples, one for every child, so they could see their own tree-rings, count them, maybe even sand them and stain them. They loved it. The teachers also got a kick out of it all, and maybe even learned something themselves.

I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE anyone with kids or grand-kids to get a bit more involved in the school activities this way. It’s fun for everyone, it gives the kids a new slant on learning (from someone besides the same old teacher), and it gives the teachers a short break as well.

Here are the posters that I used for the presentation. You can click on them for the full-size version.

I left all the posters and the samples with the teachers, for follow-up learning, hands-on lookie-touchie, etc.

G.