It’s never too early to love science.

Melanie Carden-Jessen, a geography instructor, hosted a booth at the Ozark Mountain Gem and Mineral Society event June 1. It was held at the Missouri Institute of Natural Science in Springfield, Missouri.

About the booth

People from all ages attended the event to learn more about science. Carden-Jessen made sure the booth was interactive for all ages.

“Everything on the table was touchable,” Carden-Jessen said. “My favorite part was letting the young visitors use the tools of a real geologist and how excited they were when they got to put a dilute acid on the calcite or used the rock hammer to break a sample to show cleavage.”

Everyone got to take a calcite sample home with them.

Carden-Jessen also had magnets to play with magnetite and ninja headbands to create cave food chains.

She used this opportunity to talk about how all of this affects us daily. An example was coal. Since it is our primary electricity source, it has an impact. She talked about the global footprint, mining and the impact on the community.

“Children are never too young to start developing their interests in the world around us,” Carden-Jessen said.

For high school students

Carden-Jessen also wanted to appeal to high school students who may not know what they want to do as a career.

“Since they are attending an event like this, they already have an interest in the sciences,” Carden-Jessen said. “We have the opportunity to share the many programs Missouri State has to offer.”

She displayed photos of geology, geography and planning (GGP) field trips and information about GGP.

“Geology is important, and Missouri State is the best place for you to come learn more about it,” Carden-Jessen said.