Hi All,
Here in rainy Northern California we have a group called Nature Discovery
Volunteers which goes to schools in the county of Humboldt to talk to
students on various topic of Nature Study. As a local conchologist, I have
volunteered with the "shell aspect" of the group. Many years ago a shell
shop in the county went out of business and gave their shells to the
organization to use in the schools. 15-16 years ago, shell collections
were distributed to 85 schools in the county and at times, when I visit
classes, I still see the collections in the libraries or classes. Some of
the students live i isolated rural areas in the mountains and have no idea
of the sea and its treasures. My wife and I always bag up shells for
presents to the kids and tell them it's Christmas time in humboldt County.
After several moments of puzzeled faces, the students break out in "Jingle
Bells" and we distribute the shells. We mainly work in elementary and Jr.
High schools and talk to the students on the life processes of the animals,
identification & taxonomy, ecology and the students learn to make
comparisons with the shells we bring and the ones we give to them in their
"Xmas presents".
Nature Discovery Volunteers has a fine reference collection but, as
of yet, we have not found a permanent home for it to be a ble to display
and lend out. All of the talks, in many subject areas, are given free to
the public, including churches and other organizations in the area. We are
now in the process of searching for a home for the group, as it's a
non-profit organization.
We have been fortunate to be welcomed as a part of the county's
educational program and are often called for speakers. Humboldt County,
California is a low income and sparsely populated area, BUT, we have a good
percentage of the population that works as volunteers.
Dan Yoshimoto
Pacific Shell Club
Lost Coast Shell Club
Conchological Club of Southern California
>> avrilb wrote:
>>
>> Good morning Conch-lers,
>>
>> Query, Has anyone ever tried setting up a depository of shells and
>> related materials similar in style to that of a library, that is
>> available for the use of their immediate and surrounding communities?
>
>I know you asked for a private response but this is a fairly important
>issue and I think we all need to be aware of ways of educating or
>helping others in educating our young. Most museums are seen by the
>public as a place where they can go and see specimens behind glass. As
>for the stuff in the back room in boxes and shelves, too bad -- you are
>just out of luck. Actually touching and examining things is assumed to
>be limited to a few obscure scientists and not available to amateurs. I
>know many of you realise differently; that often a simple request to see
>a collection is met with not only an agreement but help with whatever
>your questions may be. So what? Well, at the Albuquerque Museum of
>Natural History there are cabinets full of their shell collection (no
>display yet -- we are slowly working on that) and there are another
>couple of cabinets with shells people can dig through without anyone
>worrying about messing up a type specimen or damaging a super rare
>shell. These shells are also used by docents and teachers to hold
>hands-on classes for kids in a special area of the museum.
>
>Our local shell club has given shells toward this effort (with help from
>John Bernard and Paul Monfils -- thanks again to both of you). So this
>is our central repository. Maybe not the best answer, but certainly
>better than nothing. I think the best would be a supply of shells for
>each science teacher plus some related ciriculum material.
>Unfortunately this is way beyond the scope of our small shell group here
>in landlocked New Mexico. So we do what we can.
>
>Tom Eichhorst in New mexico, USA
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Dan & Hiromi Yoshimoto
1164 Vista Dr.
Eureka, California
95503-6018
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
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