Glen, sounds reasonable to me on the obsidian. We were lucky that my daughter attended a top-notch public school for 12 years in suburbia with small class sizes before moving to the heartland where she attended a larger public school for senior year, which was at least as good. From the little I've heard, at least in Santa Barbara, the public schools in California may leave something to be desired....legacy of proposition 13(?) ? What were the class sizes for your kid(s) during elementary school?

Probably the best qualification to studying earth science in college is being interested in it. Better to be good at math....it makes some things easier. For example, can better write up programs to do your own modeling (if one goes through to a higher level). There is something they taught in suburbia, and maybe here, called "fuzzy math". I never looked into it...it was controversial among some parents, but if it taught students how to understand math rather than just solve problems, it must be a good thing.

My point was that I am able to do what I do without understanding higher math...that should not be taken to discourage people from trying.
Chris