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Home > Gold Mining Equipment > Black Sand Magnets (Gold Magnet) > Black Sand Gold Recovery - Part 2 > Black Sand Concentrates > Fine Gold Recovery Equipment > Gold Prospecting - FREE TIPS > Panning For Gold > Gold Panning Tools > Gold Panning Equipment > Gold Panning Supplies > Gold Panning for Schools, Scout Troops and Clubs! > Students find gold in state's history
   Students find gold in state's historyAlex S., 10, left, and Kelli R., 9, look for gold flakes during Daryl Beattie's panning demonstration at Chester Morrison Elementary School recently. Each child who participated found a small piece of gold to take home with them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd picture: Daryl Beattie explains the art of gold panning to youngsters at Chester Morrison Elementary School. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By: Rebecca JamesCourie - For The Californian MENIFEE - Bursts of excitement rippled down the water-filled chutes as hands shot up in the air and students yelled out their victory in finding gold. More than 60 fourth-grade students at Chester W. Morrison Elementary School recently swirled, poured and dipped their shallow plastic pans in hopes of finding coveted flecks of gold as they bellied up to a 30-foot-long chute filled with water and silt. "You gotta make your hand like a claw and mix the sand around," instructed Daryl Beattie, or "Mr. Bee," as he demonstrated the technique on the school's quad in the morning sun last Monday. "Then, you gotta shake, pour and dip to make the happy face with the sand - then you'll be able to see the gold flakes." Unfortunately, some small hands weren't quite so steady. Curtis Dallas, 8, dipped a little too much and splooshed a good portion of his silty sand into the chute. Undaunted, he dove his hand into the water, scraped the bottom of the chute and found two specks of gold. "This is really cool 'cause we can find real gold," he said, looking at the flecks swimming around in his small glass vial. "It was really tricky picking them up because the flakes are really small." Beattie said the gold, which is heavier than sand, will sink to the bottom of their pans - unlike iron pyrite and biotite mica, which are considered "fool's gold." Students swirled and poured the sand off their pans, then stopped and stared at the dark remains. This painstaking procedure taxed the patience of some students until their efforts were rewarded with gold flecks "miraculously" showing through the silt - capturing the sun's light. "Where's all my gold?" moaned Devonte Davis, 10, his face inches from his pan. "I had three, and they keep disappearing on me." Beattie's gold-panning demonstration was preceded by his explanation about gold mining in California and its impact on the state in the 1800s - a topic that falls within the school's curriculum. "More than 40 percent of the gold found in the United States came from California," said Beattie, his black felt hat curled up in front and barely covering his white-bearded face. "In fact, Menifee was a gold district that ultimately had to become a town and create its own laws to curtail any wrongdoings." Beattie said California is filled with mines that still contain gold. Good Hope Gold Mine is situated between Beattie's hometown, Lake Elsinore, and Perris. Although the mine has been boarded up, Beattie said folks can still find gold in nearby streams after a rain. With the help of his sister, Marna Ybarra, and her son, Marshal, 13, Beattie said they have filled small plastic film canisters with dirt "salted" with gold flecks from Yellow Astor Mine in Northern California. This dirt was what the students, or the "Morrison Gold Miners," poured into their pans, then added water and swirled to find the gold. "I wanted to make sure everyone got a piece of gold," said Beattie, 48, who started panning for gold when he was 4. "I remember how much fun it was. I could get muddy and not get in trouble," he said, his sunburned cheeks almost matching his red bandanna around his neck. It took about four months for Beattie to create the chutes, maps and displays. To prepare the students, Beattie provided workbooks for the classes to study one week before the panning demonstration. "This has been great," said fourth-grade teacher Jennifer Pulls, smiling at the students' exuberance on finding gold. "They've learned about the miners' deprivation of leaving their families in the East to come pan for gold, as well as how it affected human nature and how it populated California. But, most of all, they learned the spirit of adventure." |
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