Juniors Newsletter
Optical Calcite Crystals, Image Credit: Lora Hall
(See more about this image below)
2023 JUNIORS NEWSLETTER CONTEST
The AFMS Juniors Committee has exciting news for both parents and children – we will publish a newsletter for kids by kids! Yes, your own newsletter, which will be published and sent throughout the country.
But we need a name and mascot for the juniors newsletter. To help us come up with a cool name and mascot, we are holding a contest to get your ideas. If your name or mascot is judged to be the best, you could win a great prize. Prizes will be awarded for two age categories, under 12 and 12-17. Although each competition will have a first-place winner, only one will be selected for the title or mascot of the newsletter. Here are the prizes:
· Grand Prize - Rock, mineral or fossil with a $100.00 value
· 1st place - Rock, mineral or fossil with a $75.00 value
· 2nd place - Rock, mineral or fossil with a $50.00 value
· 3rd place - Rock, mineral or fossil with a $25.00 value
Of course, there are some rules that you need to follow:
· First, you must be under the age of 18.
· Second, your entries must be an original idea.
· Third, the deadline to submit your entries is June 30, 2023.
· Fourth, tell us what rock, mineral, or fossil you would be interested in if you were the winner.
To submit your entry, have your parents complete the ENTRY FORM below and return it with your ideas to youth@amfed.org. Please submit your mascot entry as a .jpg or .pdf.
Deadline for the newsletter name and newsletter mascot contests is June 30, 2023.
Calling all junior journalists, writers, poets, photographers, and artists...
Do you want to see your work in print? We are looking for articles, poems, photographs, and art for the new Juniors Newsletter. The newsletter needs your rockhounding articles, photos, artwork, poetry, and other contributions. It could be an article about one of your favorite rocks, minerals, or fossils. Perhaps an article with photos of one of your favorite collecting spots. Maybe you would like to show off your lapidary jewelry you made. Or, you may have created poetry or artwork about rocks, minerals, or fossils. The only requirements are that you must be under 18 years of age and your contribution must be original and related to rockhounding, geology, paleontology, or the lapidary arts.
To submit your work have your parent complete the SUBMISSION FORM below and return it with your work to youth@amfed.org. Please submit your written work as a word.doc or .pdf and artwork should be submitted as a .jpg or pdf.
There is NO deadline to submit work for the newsletter. Submissions will be accepted throughout the year!
About the image on this page
Optical Calcite Crystals also called Iceland Spar is a transparent variety of calcite. A ray of unpolarized light passing through the crystal is divided into two rays of perpendicular polarization directed at different angles. This double refraction causes objects seen through the crystal to appear doubled. Historically, the double-refraction property of this crystal was important to understanding the nature of light as a wave. It has been speculated that the sunstone mentioned in medieval Icelandic texts was Iceland Spar, and that Vikings used its light-polarizing property to tell the direction of the sun on cloudy days for navigation.
Image Credit: Lora Hall