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Blue Ridge Parkway and Museum of North Carolina Minerals
Spruce Pine, NC (http://www.nps.gov/archive/blri/ncmap.htm)
Resource summary
- Appropriate grades: 3–8
- Subjects: science (environmental science, geology), social studies (North Carolina)
- Provider: National Park Service
More from LEARN NC
- Learning about rocks In this lesson, students will be engaged in hands-on experiences while they explore rocks.
- Minerals and math Students will develop ways to create self-devised rules for classifying minerals and relate this information to scientific ways of classifying minerals according to their characteristics. They will then compile this information into a chart and convert parts of the chart into a line or bar graph.
- Blue Ridge Parkway Travelogue Students plan and develop a week-long trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway, from beginning to end. The virtual tour culminates in the creation of a travelogue that will outline the trip.
More on the web
- Mineralogy 4 Kids Learn about mineral groups, the rock cycle, or Ask-a-Mineralogist your "rocky" question on the Mineralogical Society of America's site for kids.
- North Carolina Geological Survey Explore the geological maps of North Carolina, learn about the minerals that can be found there, and check out the questions that students are asking geologists.
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Probably not settled by the Europeans until several years after the Revolutionary War, Crabtree Meadows is a natural stopping place on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway actually straddles the McDowell, Yancey, and Mitchell County lines at this point. Crabtree Meadows is also close to the Museum of North Carolina Minerals, which features artifacts from the nearby Spruce Pine mining district. In the early summer, the Meadows becomes a showplace of wildflowers, including hawthorne, beard tongue, mountain laurel, and gentian.
The Museum of North Carolina Minerals is located at the junction of the Parkway and North Carolina Highway 226 (milepost 331). The museum has a visitor center and exhibits interesting minerals and precious gems found in North Carolina. A major focus of the museum is on fulfilling the North Carolina standards of learning in Earth Sciences with a curriculum based program at the Museum.