Exploring Rocks A research project

BooksObservation

Journals♪Rock Music§Stories?Quiz Yourself

Facts about rocks

Main types

Sedimentary

Metamorphic

Igneous

Where they’re found

Lakes and rivers

Underground

Near lava flows, ocean floor

Rocks and Minerals

• Rocks are made of two or more different minerals that have been:

1.cemented together, or

2.squeezed and heated together, or

3.melted and cooled together.

• Rocks make up the majority of the Earth's crust. One of the most common rocks is granite. http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/lessons/Rocks/Rocks4.html

Books about Rocks• Crystal & gem / Symes, R.F. and

R.R. Harding ; special photography by Colin Keates. New York : DK Pub., 2004.

• Rocks and minerals / Chasek, Ruth. New York : Children's Press, c2000.

• If you find a rock / Christian, Peggy; photographs by Barbara Hirsch Lember. San Diego, CA : Harcourt Brace, c2000.

More Books about Rocks

• Rocks and minerals / Ricciuti, Edward R. and Margaret W. Carruthers. New York : Scholastic, c1998.

• Rocks & minerals / Symes, R. F. and the staff of the Natural History Museum, London ; [special photography, Colin Keates and Andreas Einsiedel].by New York : Dorling Kindersley, c2000.

• How we use rock / Oxlade, Chris. Chicago, Ill.: Raintree, c2004.

what we know, want to know, and learnedRocks are not for throwing.

Why are there different kinds of rocks?

Rocks have different grain sizes.

Some rocks look different than others.

Some rocks have fossils in them.

Are rocks alive?

There are lots of rocks.

Some rocks have a streak

Where do rocks come from?

Rocks are made of minerals

Observing Rocks

Collect Rocks• Stay in the school yard;

do not go into the street.• Get permission before

going in someone’s yard. • Some of the rocks have

very sharp edges. If so, leave it on the ground.

• Collect only rocks you can pick up with one hand.

Clean Rocks• Use eye protection when

washing rocks• Use water and toothbrush

to clean away dirt. • Place rocks on tray to dry.• Line up rocks on

windowsill for observation.

Observing & Recording

• Choose 5 rocks from the windowsill to observe daily.

• Make a section for each rock in your journal.

• Record your findings in your each day.

Rock Journals

Record the following about each rock:

• Size• Shape• Color • Texture• Where did you find

it?

Answer the Daily Question* for your 5 rocks:

• Does it change temperature from morning to afternoon?

• Does it have a fossil?• Does it have a streak• What kind of rock is it?• How did you find out?

* Samples - There was one new question each day we studied this unit.

Journal Entries

• Write about your rocks each day.

• If you need help with topics, see the

Smart Start questions on the board.

(e.g. Imagine you are this rock; how did you wind up here?)

Rock Stories

• Some friends to feed : the story of Stone Soup / Seeger, Pete and Paul DuBois Jacobs ; illustrations by Michael Hays. New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, c2005.

• Sylvester and the magic pebble / Steig, William New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1980.

• Three pebbles and a song / Spinelli, Eileen; pictures by S.D. Schindler. New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, c2003.

More Rock Stories• Everybody needs a rock / Baylor, Byrd ; with

pictures by Peter Parnall. New York : Scribner, 1974.

• Meteor! / Polacco, Patricia. New York : Philomel Books, 1999.

• I love rocks / Meister, Cari ; illustrated by Terry Sirrell.New York : Children's Press, c2001.

• The seeing stone / DiTerlizzi, Tony and Holly Black. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2003.

Even More Rock Stories• The wretched stone / Van Allsburg, Chris.

Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1991. • Finding the green stone / Walker, Alice,

illustrated by Catherine Deeter. San Diego, CA : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991.

• The sword in the stone / White, T. H. (Terence Hanbury), illustrated by Dennis Nolan. New York : Philomel Books, 1993.

• Words of stone / Henkes, Kevin. New York : Greenwillow Books, c1992.

Rock Music• Goal – to make music using rocks in various ways. • Materials: variety of rocks, few pieces of wood (flat), tin

cans, yogurt cups or margarine tubs with lids, folder, any other item that can be used in conjunction with rocks to create a variety of sounds.

• Preparation: Find a variety of rocks and gather other miscellaneous items to use in conjunction with the rocks

to produce a variety of sounds.

• Original idea by Scott Dan

Making Rock Music• Sit in a large circle• Sing a familiar song , clapping hands or snapping fingers

for rhythm.• Pass out materials and rocks to each student. Make

sure to go over safety rules. (No banging or throwing; watch out for fingers.)

• Gently explore the sounds each rock or set of rocks can make.

• Sing the song again, using rocks for instruments!• Try it more times with different groupings of rocks.

More about Rock Music• After making music, discuss the different sounds the

rocks make. Explore the following ideas:• Does the size of the rock change the sound? • Tap different kinds of rocks together. Does the sound

change? • Put rocks in or on other materials. How does the sound

change?• Which sounds/materials do you like best together?

Least?• Record your findings in your journals

Quiz Yourself

Which 3 are the main types of rocks?:

1 Sedimentary

2 Chalk

3 Igneous

4 Metamorphic

Resources• http://www.lessonplanspage.com/Science23.htm• http://www.lessonplanspage.com/ScienceMathMusicPEArtSSL

AMDRocks-RockyMusic12.htm• [

http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/lessons/Slideshow/Slideindex.html]

• http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/lessons/Rocks/Rocks1.html

• Books and Stories - Richardson Public Library catalog http://hip.cor.gov

• Journals – Maxim, Donna. Beginning Researchers. Coming to Know: Writing to Learn in the Intermediate Grades. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann. (p.4)