Before Google, before Sillicon Valley, before the Gold Rush, the San Francisco landscape was a biome filled with grizzly bears, mule deer, tule elk, coyotes, gray fox, gophers, and moles. To explore the early days of yesteryear, kids...

Students investigate gold. In this gold panning lesson, students demonstrate the process of mining through an experiment using two boxes of sand. Students design a safe way to mine gold.

Middle schoolers view and discuss a demonstration of how gold is mined and panned. They design and create a tunnel that has reinforcements to withstand collapse.