Grade Levels: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Lesson Submitted by: Tammy Payton

Objective

Students will discover that there are many elements to soil. Students will develop their observation and classification skills.

Materials Needed:

• soil samples that are rich in organic matter

• magnifying glasses

• toothpicks

• 13 by 18 inch sheet of white construction paper for each group

Activity Description:

Begin this session by telling the students that soil came from eroded rocks and decaying material. Tell your students that they will be examining soil and sorting the elements found in soil into three categories: soil (dirt), rocks, and decaying material. Brainstorm with your class what decaying material means until they understand that it was once something that had been alive. Tell the students that as they find particles of decaying material, try to figure out what it had been before it died.

Divide the class into teams of two to three students. Each team should have a magnifying glass, toothpick, one piece of white construction paper, and about one cup of soil. Be sure that the soil samples that the children will be examining contain decaying material. You may have to enrich the soil sample by adding extra leaves, grass clippings, and twigs to the soil mixture. Pour the soil on the white construction paper and have the students sort and classify the material that they find in the soil by using their toothpicks. Rich soil should contain small amounts of water and air. By using the white piece of construction paper for a work mat, the moisture should become evident to the students as they examine the soil.

Once the students have had sufficient time to categorize their soil sample, have the students return to the large group and report their findings. Encourage the students to observe the mats that they worked on and determine if there is anything else present in the soil other than dirt, rocks, and decaying material. Hopefully the students will discover on their own that water and air are present in the soil.

To make this hands-on activity more interesting, provide different samples of soil taken from various areas such as from the forest floor, a garden, or the city park. Instead of having all of the teams observing and classifying the same kind of soil, each group can have a different sample of soil. When the groups report back to everyone, discuss with the students which kind of soil is richer and what characteristics make it this way.

Discuss with your group that each year a new layer of soil is added on top of last year's layer of soil. Every year, more and more soil accumulates, and after hundreds and thousands of years have passed, the soil that is buried deep within the earth will slowly begin to change into rock.

Grade Levels: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Lesson Submitted by: Tammy Payton

Objective

How well do you know your rocks? This is an easy introduction for your students that will hone their observation skills on the rocks in their neighborhood.

Materials Needed:

• paper bags or baggies

• large butcher paper for word web and magic markers

• yarn

Activity Description:

Have students collect rocks for this discovery activity. Here are some suggested ideas for collecting a variety of rocks:

1. Give each student a paper bag or a baggie and have them investigate what rocks are close to school. Have them choose three rocks for this hands-on activity.

2. If you don't have a collection of rocks close to your school or are unable to collect rocks around your school, you can tell students to bring in three rocks from home for homework. Tell them to try to find different kinds of rocks. The wider variety your children bring in, the better this activity will be!

3. If you really want to get a WIDE variety of rocks, announce on a mailing list or web site that you want to do a rock swap. See the web page on Rock Swap for ideas on how you can collaborate with other educators.

Now that your class has a rock collection, have your students brainstorm on what they know about rocks. Do this by seating your students in a large circle and placing the rocks that they have collected in the middle of the circle.  Ask your students what they already know about rocks and organize their information on a large sheet of butcher paper by creating a word web of facts. Ask them the following questions and record:

1. Are all of the rocks the same colors?

2. Do all rocks have the same texture?

3. Are all rocks the same size?

4. Can you name something in our school that is made from rock? How about something in our city?

5. How do you think rocks are made?

After recording what the students already know, explain that the earth's crust is made of rock. Explain to the students that the earth is like a carmel covered apple. The soil is the carmel, the skin of the apple is the crust, the fleshy part of the apple is the mantel, and the core of the apple is the earth's core.

As soil accumulates over the years, the older soil is pushed farther and farther down. Eventually, the soil turns into sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rocks keep getting pushed further and further down. In fact, the deeper you dig into the earth, the hotter it gets under ground. So as the sedimentary rock is pushed farther and farther under ground, there is a lot of pressure and heat added to the rock. Eventually, sedimentary rock will "morph" into another kind of rock called metamorphic.

There is one other kind of rock found on earth and it is called fire rock, which scientist say is igneous. What do you think makes fire rocks? Deep under the earth, it is so hot, that rocks have melted! This melted rock is called magma. Sometimes the pressure is so tremendous under the earth, that the magma will begin to push up through the earth's crust and a volcano is created. When enough pressure is made in the volcano, the magma will erupt from the volcano and lava will begin pouring out of it. As the lava cools, igneous rocks are formed. Scoria and pumice are two rocks that are created from cooled lava.

Have the children work in groups of two to four. Each child takes the rocks that they brought for this activity and a length of yarn. As a group, have the children sort and classify rocks by taking the length of yarn and creating a circle. Children will discuss, as a group, how the rocks are similar and different and place the rocks inside of the circle of yarn that are the same.

Grade Levels: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Lesson Submitted by: Tammy Payton

Objective

Students will have an understanding of how erosion happens and that this is part of the rock cycle.

Materials Needed:

• sand

• straws

• sprinkling watering can

Activity Description:

Divide students into small groups and allow each group to create their own mountain of sand. Let the students add details to their creations by adding twig trees and small boulders. Once their creations are complete, give each student a straw. Have them blow through the straw and see what effect the "wind" has on their mountain. Discuss how wind erodes the land in this same way.

Next use a watering can that has a sprinkling head and have the students sprinkle the water on their mountains. Have them observe the changes and discuss what they are. Tell the students that rain effects the world in the same way. Discuss with the students that wind and rain erode the earth in the same way that they have eroded their sand mountains.

Have the group discuss their observations. Tell the students that as wind and rain erode bits of earth everyday, many of these eroded particles are washed downstream and settle at the bottom of  ponds, lakes, and oceans. After many years have elapsed and layers and layers are added on top of each other, the layers at the bottom will slowly begin changing into rock because of the weight and pressure on top of them.

Grade Levels: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Lesson Submitted by: Tammy Payton

Objective

Students will have an understanding of how erosion happens and that this is part of the rock cycle.

Materials Needed:

• Metamorphic Magic Cookie recipe

• toothpicks

• paper plates

Activity Description:

Have the students measure, stir, and bake the Metamorphic Cookie recipe. Explain to the students that the ingredients they are adding represent sediments of material. As you add each ingredient to the mixture, they are becoming compacted together. After all of the ingredients are added, you have something similar to a sedimentary rock formation. When you form the small, teaspoon size drops of dough on the cookie sheet, you have compacted the ingredients together to form a solid material.

You can discuss how this is similar to conglomerate rock. Conglomerate rocks are sedimentary rocks. They are made up of large sediments like sand and pebbles. The sediment is so large that pressure alone cannot hold the rock together, but are cemented together with dissolved minerals. The chips and nuts can represent the large sediments and the dough represents the dissolved minerals that cement the rock.

Next have the students predict what will happen to this dough when heat is added to this mixture. Tell the students that this is how sedimentary rock is changed, or morphed, into another kind of rock. Metamorphic rocks were once igneous or sedimentary. The rocks are under tons and tons of pressure, which fosters heat build up, and causes them to change. Although we are not adding pressure to the cookies, we are emulating the heat that causes the rocks to change with the oven.

Once the cookies are out of the oven, let the students mine for minerals. Give each student one cookie on a paper plate and a toothpick. Have students compare the size of their cookies with other students, then weigh the cookies to see if they all weigh the same. Query your students why they think all of the rocks/cookies do not weigh the same. Some cookies will weigh less than others, because some may have fewer "minerals" in their rock.

Next have the children mine for minerals by taking their toothpicks and excavating their rock. Have them sort the minerals they have and discuss whether or not the minerals changed their appearance since the heat was applied.

Have the students compare the number of minerals found in their rock to the rocks of the other students

.

Grade Levels: k, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Lesson Submitted by: Tammy Payton

Objective

Students will practice their researching and evaluating information skills, electronic communication skills, and sharing their findings by creating a presentation about the facts they found.

Materials Needed:

• Internet access using a web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer
• e-mail access
• poster board and markers to make a visual presentation for their topic

Activity Description:

After the students have done some introductory lessons on what are rocks and how they are formed, have the students brainstorm what facts they want to know in addition to what they have already learned. Depending on the age of the students this can be done as a whole group with primary students, in small groups with intermediate age students, or by individuals with secondary age students.

Suggestions for facts that they may want to explore in depth could include researching a particular kind of rock to discover how it was formed and the uses man has for it or understanding how sandstone and other sedimentary rock can be found at the top of mountains. Once the students have listed additional facts that they want to learn, narrow this topic to a specific area.

Older students can work independently while younger students may work in small groups or in a whole group with teacher direction. Next have your students use the web site called Digging for Information and search for information using the Yahooligans or Ask Jeeves search engine.

If students cannot find the answers to their questions after they have searched extensively, have the students ask a geology expert by visiting the web page sponsored by the United States Geological Survey. Inform the students about the limitations to the questions that they can ask the geology expert. These limitations are listed at the bottom of the page that hosts the web page for "Ask the Geology Expert."  

Students need to document where they found the information by recording where it came from. Encourage the students to find at least three informational sources for the answers to their question. Have them evaluate the information that they found to see if there is anything contradictory in the information between their three sources.

Have the students share the information that they found with their group. Students can either create projects made by the entire group, small groups, or individually.