Earth and Sky - Pebbles and Rocks

Focus: Every pebble and rock tells a story of how the earth was formed, shaped, and changed over time.

Puppets (Teacher, Grandma Granite, Sandy Sandstone, Maggie Marble)

Materials Checklist
Pebble Pass (rocks of various shapes and textures, one per child)
Puppet show (puppets, script, small box of rocks, piece of white bread, piece of wheat bread, crunchy peanut butter, jelly, spreaders, rolling pin, paper plate, samples of igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary rocks)
Rock Riddles (rock set, small jar of vinegar, unglazed ceramic tile, magnet, hand lenses, Rock Riddle cards)
Rock Cycle Stories (rock cycle diagram, rock sets, copies of Rock Cycle Stories, clipboards, pencils)
Houseful of Rocks (assortment of rock and mineral products, assortment of plant and animal products)
Pebble Pickup (pebbles, egg cartons, optional camera)
Sharing Circle (one pebble per child from Pebble Pickup activity)

Supplementary Reference Materials (Rock Cycle Diagram, Rock Cycle Stories, Rock Riddles, Coal and Petroleum) You might also find this Descriptive Rock Chart helpful.

Additional Reading/Resources
The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth, by Joanna Cole, Scholastic Press, New York, 1987.
If You Find a Rock, by Peggy Christian, Harcourt Publishing, 2000.
Ranger Rick's Naturescope: Geology – The Active Earth, by Judy Braus, National Wildlife Federation, Washington, DC, 1987.
Geology Made Simple, by W.H. Matthews III, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, NY, 1982.

For Younger Children
Many of the activities in VINS's new Small Wonders book can be used in ELF, too. To find appropriate activities for children aged 3-6, click here.

Teaching suggestions
-Play Queen's We Will Rock You!
-Be sure to talk about your state rock(s). In Vermont: slate, granite, and marble.

Pebble Pass
Younger kids SHOULD peek at their rocks, just quickly, without letting anyone else see. Then, when they have passed and think they have their own, there is a good way to check.

Make sure the pebbles in this activity vary greatly in size, texture, shape.

This can be rather confusing, so you might want the chant to go: “Pass. Check it out. Pass. Check it out…”

Puppet Show
It is hard to make the sandwich fast enough!

You can substitute cream cheese for peanut butter if there are peanut allergies in your class or school.

Some groups had each kid make their own sandwich during the show then used this as a snack. Another group made seven layer bars for snack and had the kids take a core sample with a straw and sort the different layers.

Rock Riddles
Some riddles can be satisfied by more than one rock – and that is fine!

Use the eyedropper to put a drop of vinegar on a rock and then use a hand lens to look for bubbles.

Remember to include a see-through glass with water for the float test.

Rock Cycle Stories
You could illustrate the cycle diagram using a felt board with felt pieces to show: 1.Sediments; 2.Arrow labeled pressure and time; 3.Sedimentary rock; 4. Arrow labeled heat and pressure; and 5. Metamorphic rock. Then have the children place the samples on top of the appropriate piece, either sediment, sedimentary rock or metamorphic rock.

Pebble Pickup
Students in all grades enjoy this activity, and the older kids come up with some very sophisticated categories!

Additional Activities
Here's a silly rock rap adapted from Shelburne Farms activities:

Sed-i-
men-tary
Sand grain crushed
beneath the sea

Igneous rocks
Were runny and hot
They got hard
When they cooled a lot

Met-a- morphic rocks
Changed their form
When they got squashed
and very warm

Learning Goals

Concepts/Ideas:

• Rocks are made up of minerals. One rock type is differentiated from another by the kinds of minerals in it and the way in which the rock was formed.
• Rocks are grouped according to the way they were formed; igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic.
• Simple tests used to indicate the presence of certain minerals, the hardness of the rock, the way a rock breaks apart and the luster of the rock are used for designating a particular kind of rock.
• Since the earth's beginning, rocks have continually been formed, changed by heat and pressure, worn away into tiny pieces, and then cemented together again by natural forces. This endless cycle of change continues today.
• Rocks are the building blocks of our planet. We depend on rocks and minerals in our everyday life for a huge variety of products.

Vocabulary: Igneous, magma, sedimentary, metamorphic, minerals, weathering, erosion, crystals, rock cycle

Skills:

• Examining and differentiating rocks using the sense of touch.
• Active listening to understand how igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks are formed.
• Testing and investigating some properties of rocks used in identification.
• Examining and comparing rock sets to understand the rock cycle.
• Sorting and classifying a collection of pebbles found outdoors.
• Discussing the variety of rock and mineral products we use every day.

Grade Expectations:
Grades PK-K (S9, S46) Chunks of rock come in many shapes, colors and textures, ranging in size from huge boulders to grains of sand and even smaller. Rocks are solid. Rocks can be sorted by how they are alike or different

Grades 1-2 (S9, S12, S46) Earth is made up of solid rocks and soils. Rocks can vary widely in color and texture and may be differentiated by properties of color, texture and hardness.

Grades 3-4 (S46) Rock is composed of different combinations of minerals that are subjected to forces of heat and pressure within the earth. Rocks can be classified by their physical properties.

Grades 5-6 (S46) Rocks come from magma or lava, as well as from sediments that build up in layers. In the “Rock Cycle,” rocks break down and reform over time when exposed to direct pressure and heat in the earth.

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