Mercer and I researched the obsidian rock he purchased in South Dakota when he visited with his parents in 2020. We learned it is an igneous rock and naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. Mercer described its physical characteristics as that of shiny glass, and we saw that it is actually described as having a glassy lustre slightly harder than window glass. Mercer viewed a videotape of a man fashioning tools such as arrowheads out of obsidian and copied his method to shave off a few slivers of glass. He noted that the man was wearing two layers of leather while doing the demo. Mercer is fascinated by geology and enjoys doing research, gaining many ideas from the videos he watches.