Sunday, April 13, 2008

Science Rocks!




Our class has been studying rocks and minerals for the past couple of weeks. Stacy came by one day with bags full of her family's collection of rocks. She shared the collection of metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks with the class. The children had very good observations that led them to note certain characteristics of these different types of rocks.

On another day the class used crayons to demonstrate the rock cycle. The learners each started with their single color igneous rocks (no grains, layers, or streaks). They made shavings of their "rocks" which represented erosion and combined and pressed different pieced together to create a layered, grainy sedimentary rock. They exposed these rocks to some more pressure and to heat which created metamorphic rock. They seemed to have a lot of fun creating pressure on their individual samples. It's not everyday that you get to stomp up and down on your work. You may seen their metamorphic rocks when they brought them home last week. The learners will continue to explore rocks and minerals in the upcoming weeks.

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