KIDS PLAY ROCKS FOR SOJOURNER.

Byline: Sharline Chiang Daily News Staff Writer

With a nervous smile, 6-year-old Joseph Davidson allowed a scaled-down model of the Mars Sojourner rover to roll over his entire body Saturday.

``Now wait and don't move. Rocks don't move,'' the woman with the remote control box told Joseph. ``Very good. You make a good rock.''

Bolting up and out of the way for the next pint-sized ``rock'' to take its place under Sojourner, the West Hills youngster shared coolly: ``It was only a little heavy.''

A Pathfinder educational program for children and a talk on the famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory mission were just two of many activities and exhibits at the open house of CSUN's geological sciences department Saturday.

The day featured the unveiling of two murals - one offering a prehistoric glance of the Los Angeles area and another with a modern perspective.

Held coincidentally on the fourth anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake, the open house highlighted recently-completed repairs and renovations from the temblor. The quake wracked the campus and left most of the science building's walls badly cracked.

The day drew more than 180 lovers of all things rock and earth, including families, students and alumni. The high turnout was no surprise to die-hard fans.

`` 'Cause rocks are cool!'' squealed Kathryn Van Roosendaal, 25, a California State University, Northridge junior studying seismic waves and volcanoes. ``We're the only ones who can be in the middle of a gravel rock driveway and go, `Wow

Look at this!' ''

One of the murals unveiled is a colorful mosaic of maps showing the different rocks and minerals that make up the Los Angeles area. The maps were created by Thomas Dibblee and his staff. Dibblee, 86, is a well-known geological map maker who has been mapping for 70 years.

The center of attention was a mural depicting the Santa Monica Mountains in the Miocene Epoch. The artwork, painted by artist and Valley native John Iwerks, shows how the area may have looked 15 million years ago.

In the mural, volcanoes spill red lava upon blue waters, as now-extinct species of animals - including camels, mastodons (elephant-like mammals) and bear-like dogs roam lush plains.

Eugene Fritsche, professor of geology for 34 years, said the mural lets CSUN students and Valley residents travel in time.

``It gives the mental picture of what the rocks were like. It's about being able to understand history,'' said Fritsche, who wore an oxford shirt covered with painted fossils.

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Photo

PHOTO JPL geologist Brenda Franklin helps Joseph Davidson, 6, drive a Sojourner model over Kyle Schaaf, 5.

John McCoy/Daily News