Jordan Sands, an industrial sand mining and processing operation based in Mankato, Minn., and a Coughlan Companies affiliate, is continuing its partnership for the third consecutive school year with the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota and the Mankato Area Public Schools.
The collaboration “Matter and Motion in the Coughlan Quarry and Jordan Sands” connects children’s experiences around the museum’s Coughlan Quarry exhibit with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) and social studies curriculum.
Designed for second grade students, the program consists of pre-visit classroom activities, such as watching a video tour of the Jordan Sands Stoffel quarry, a field trip to the museum that includes a 45-minute guided program facilitated by museum educators and recommended post-visit classroom and extension activities to build on student learning.
The program focuses on the geology of southern Minnesota and challenges students to investigate the kinds of rock found in the Coughlan Quarry exhibit and the equipment and activities that take place in a quarry.
“This partnership activates the Coughlan Quarry exhibit at the Children’s Museum in exciting ways. It provides opportunities for participants to be hands-on with materials, build an understanding of both the geology and quarrying industry in our region, and apply ideas and skills from school curriculum in unique ways. We love the energy and ideas students and educators bring to the program and the discoveries they unearth by participating,” said Mia Forslund, education and program manager at the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota.
“We’re excited to collaborate again this school year with the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota and the Mankato Area Public Schools on this meaningful experience for area second graders. Engaging kids in hands-on science learning helps foster curiosity and inquiry which leads to endless possibilities for children,” said Brett Skilbred, Jordan Sands vice president.