“Birth of Geologist through a simple method of a thin section making"

Two years ago on January 17th, there was a huge earthquake

in Hyogo prefecture. Six thousands people were lost in the

earthquake. More than one hundred thousand people lost their

houses. I came from this district.

Since the earthquake, emergency plans and a better understanding

of seismological activity are required. Teachers are making a

lot of earthquake manuals. This kind of manuals explain what people

should do in case of an earthquake as well as emergency aids.

But should the emphasis be on such education?

Although the Hyogo earthquake left a strong impression of fear, we

can't teach students in an active manner by using such manuals.

When we are young, the earth is a source of curiosity and full of

natural beauty. Rachel Carson said that “sense of wonder" is

important to our future children. I think it is most effective to

teach students the mystery and fascination of nature. After that,

we should teach how earthquake occur and how to minimize injury.

I see a pebble as mystery and fascination of nature. If I slice off

a thin section from a pebble and show it to the student using a

polarising microscope, the children will be impressed by the wonderful,

beautiful picture. They'll say, “How beautiful this is!",“This pebble

must be alive. Because they are so beautiful." This experience is the

origin of study. An activity like this sparks curiosity and inspires

questions about how these stones were made and how other stones look.

But we rarely use this wonderful material in the classroom because the

method of a thin section making involves a complex technique and a large

machine. However, I have a new device which makes a thin section much

easier than before. If I use this method, I can make a thin section

during the lesson.

The most important feature of new device of mine is this holder. Using

this holder prevents injury from the slide glass and polish solvent.

I use an instant gluing agent to fix them together, and sandpaper and

pical instead of the polish. Finally I paint with nail polish and

coloring paint. With this device, I can finish a thin section making

in only one hour whereas former method took one day to complete.

Now I will demonstrates how to make a thin section. Everyone, let's

make it together. Please begin from procedure 3. The stone I handed

you is from the volcanic rock of Mt. Aso which has the largest caudron

in the world. When you finish making it, please look into the microscope,

and look at it carefully. I remodeled this polarizing microscope with

a polarizing sheet. This remodel is based on the Utagawa method.

When I applied this method in my class, students became more interested

in the stone than before. Especially, two students changed their room

into “CABINET", and exhibited stones and minerals. They observed and

researched the stones. They even joined my field work and helped me.

Moreover they announced the outcome of their research at a youth science

festival in November. In this way, I want to teach student in an active

manner by using stones, and encourage them to be curious and active.

Thank you very much.