AY Honors/Geological Geocaching - Advanced/Answer Key
1. Earn the Advanced Geocaching Honor
While not stated as a requirement, it is assumed like all Advanced Honors you will also earn the basic Geological Geocaching Honor as well. Why not work on them together?
2. Earn the Advanced Rocks and Minerals or Advanced Geology Honor
The requirements for the Geology - Advanced honor and Rocks and Minerals - Advanced honor with helps for completing them are available here in this wiki.
3. Summarize the guidelines for submitting an earthcache for publication.
These guidelines are edited and changed on a regular basis. Please consult earthcache.org for the latest guidelines. In general the proposed earthcache should
- Earthcache sites must provide earth science lessons
- Earthcaches should highlight a unique feature
- Earthcache sites must be educational
- Logging an earthcache requires that the participant complete an educational task directly relating to the earthcache location
- Leave no trace ethics
- Earthcache locations require prior approval of the owners or land managers of the property upon which the earthcache is located.
4. Do one of the following individually or with a small group
a) Visit and log on geocaching.com twelve (12) earthcaches. Also, write and have published on geocaching.com two earthcaches.
If found in four or more states/countries, qualifies you for the Gold earthcache Master award from earthcache.org
b) Visit and log on Geocaching.com five (5) types of earthcaches (from the list below)
List: Mineral/fossil Site, mining site, hydrological feature, geomorphological feature, river feature, cave/karst feature, coastal feature, erosional feature, fault/fold feature, sedimentary feature, metamorphic feature, igneous feature, glacial feature, other feature.
While not all earthcaches are specifically classified on the website, you should be able to classify them yourself from the writeup or a visit.
c) Visit and log on geocaching.com 15 earthcaches. Write and have published on geocaching.com one earthcache.
If your finds are in four or more states/countries, you also qualify for the Gold earthcache Master award from earthcache.org
5. Read the story of the flood in Genesis 6-9. Discuss the geological impacts a global flood might have on the formation of the geological features we see today.
You can read Genesis 6-9 online. Formation of mountains, separation of contenants, creation of islands (volcanic eruptions) deposit of sediment, formation of coal and oil beds and much more.
6. Discuss with an instructor, pastor, or qualified youth leader how Creationist Christians understand the formation of the geological column. You may contrast this view with the Evolutionist view if necessary.
It may make a lot of sense to combine this discussion with the discussion required in the basic version of the honor.
Notes
Earthcaching.org is the primary resource for completing the requirements for this honor. A standard 6th-8th grade Earth Science textbook would supply the basic geological concepts that need to be understood to complete this honor. A basic membership (free) on geocaching.com is a necessary requirement for completing several of the requirements for this honor.
