HEAVY MINERAL SANDS: LINKING GEOLOGY WITH CHEMISTRY

For the past six summers, twenty inservice middle grade science and second earth science and chemistry teachers from coastal Georgia who are selected for this Eisenhower-funded workshop, through field trips, trace the origin of two titanium minerals, rutile and ilmenite; their eventual entrainment in modern barrier beach sands; and final chemical conversion to titanium dioxide pigment. They travel to the Georgia Piedmont and the world-class, abandoned Graves Mountain Kyanite Mine in Lincoln County. There, they obtain about twelve easy-to-collect mineral species; discuss the origin of the mineralogy; and examine the complex geology and geomorphic setting of this site. A visit to a modern barrier beach along the Georgia coast allows the teachers to observe the entrainment of heavy sands in the swash zone. A placer mining operation in northern Florida, landlocked by about 50 miles, provides a minable concentration of heavy sand in an abandoned uplifted barrier island. In the chemistry laboratory of the university, the students learn the fundamentals of chemical titration and from there visit for two days, in Savannah, Kemira Pigments (now Kerr-McKee Pigments) as to how the ore (the heavy mineral sand) is chemically converted to titanium dioxide pigment. TiO2 pigment is a whitener with literally thousands of applications--from a base in cosmetics and toothpaste to the white "sugar" on sugared donuts. Guest speakers from DuPont White Pigments and the Okefenokee NWR debate the "To Mine or Not To Mine" issue at Trail Ridge. The teachers are required to write a unit plan as to how the principles of geology, mineralogy, geomorphology, and chemistry are to be intigrated into their individual classrooms; how the mineral/rock collections have changed their teaching strategies; and assess their student learning objectives. The teachers reassemble the following Spring where each describes the successes and failures of their efforts. Three graduate science or pedagogy credit are awarded, and Eisenhower funds offset tuition and all course-related expenses.