I am looking for some great ideas to teach students about rocks and minerals. I am beginning to build my unit on this topic and would appreciate any ideas you might have. Thanks in advance!
Here is a great website we have used in the past. If this doesn't work, google it under Rock Hounds. It is http://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow1/oct98/index2.html
It has lots of great ideas and activities, and if you have access to a computer lab, you can have the kids read for specific information. We also use The Magic Schoolbus Inside the Earth as a great book for information.
all over the country and few in other countries asking for samples. We actually got some and the kids were thrilled when the packages arrived. We then learned about the samples we received (and threw in some geography as well).
Make edible rocks...helps students see the difference in the three types of rocks. Igneous rocks---melt chocolate chips in microwave, (melted rock or magma) have a piece of wax paper on each desk and put a spoonful of melted chocolate on each wax paper for students to watch it cool and harden. *****Make Gumdrop Metamorphic rocks....Give each student 2 pieces of wax paper, give each student three different colored gum drops (cut into nine or ten pieces)---put the pieces of gum drops between the pieces of wax paper and have the students press the gumdrops together)remove the wax paper and discuss how heat and pressure make metamorphic rocks. Sedimentary Rocks...make and eat Rice Krispies
Our kids' favorite activity was discovering that rocks are made up of minerals by digging "minerals" out of cookie "rocks". I baked cookies filled with raisins, chocolate chips, peanuts (no allergies in my class), butterscotch chips, and M&Ms. They used toothpicks to dig the "minerals" out. We discussed how no two cookies had the exact same number of ingredients, just like no two rocks are exactly alike. They had a ball.
One project we did, that the kids really loved, was to give each one (or let them supply it) an empty egg carton. They collected rocks at home (or found some on the playground at school) and put one in each part of the egg carton. Then they used the many books I have in the classroom to identify the type of rock it is. They could only have 3 of the same kind of rock. They used the lid of the egg carton to put the label. When they finished, I let them leave them open on their desk and walk around to look at each other's collections. They really did a good job with it, and learned so much by adding the "research" part to it. I gave them 2 weeks to complete it, but most were done in 1 week.
We break open Geodes and complete a packet about our research. Describing them before there open, cracking them open, and then what we found on the inside.
I couldn't find the site to buy the geodes this year, so we ordered them through Oriental Trading Co. It was 5.95 per dozen. Some of them are really small, so order enough so you have extra.
The kids really love it, and they get to take their rocks home to keep.
If you need to teach weathering and rock break down here are two experiments or activities that work well. THey came from the AIMS science units for third grade.
Plant radish seeds and then cover with a thin layer of plaster. The kids will see how plants can break up rocks.
Fill a balloon with a small amount of water adn then cover with plaster. Then freeze after plaster dries. They will see how ice can break apart rocks.
My stuff is at school and we're home due to tornado damage. I don't remember if I kept addresses of places that responded but I will check as soon as possible. I did a google search for addresses and kept our fingers crossed. The response was disappointing... each child sent a letter (23 kids) and we got about 6 samples back. However, those 6 packages made it worth the effort. One place even sent notecards! We got several samples and lots of brochures and information.
I hope you are recovering from the tornado damage. I will look forward to hearing from you about addresses if you still have them. Thanks for your response.
03-04-2006, 11:00 AM
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