Choose Your Own Adventure: Rock Cycle

Choose Your Own Adventure Style: Rock Cycle Wheel (free download) Students find images or draw pictures on their wheel. They fasten the two circles together and ride the rock cycle. They spin clockwise and counterclockwise, choosing their own adventure!

After kids have fun riding the rock cycle, then invite them outside for a fun game of rock cycle tag! Free printable here!

Fossil Hunter

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sq4P3-p5g82nIEE0f821ZaAoxpfTNIOS/view?usp=sharing

Students become paleontologists, searching for fossils (cut out and placed) around the classroom. There are 20 fossils, including: true-form (body), trace, mold and cast. Children walk around with a clipboard and investigate each fossil (labeled A-T). They circle whether it is a body or trace, as well as if it is a mold or cast fossil. Then, they infer what the fossil is!

Fossils included in this pack are:
True-Form / Body - skull, claw, skin, femur, whole form (dinosaurs, trilobites, crinoids, ammonites, insects and ferns)
Trace - eggs, footprints, nest, feces, burrows
There are Mold and Cast examples and comparisons.
The name of each fossil is posted by each image.

After the students inspect each fossil and record their answers, they tally and graph their fossils because scientists collect data! The categories of the graph are not given to the students; there are only definitions! The students must think about what they learned about each fossil and write the name of the fossil type under each definition. Then, they can tally and fill in their graph!

Next, the students do fossil fractions! Using their tally marks and graph, they write the fraction for each type of fossil (true-form, trace, mold and cast). Then, they reduce each fraction (if necessary) and draw a picture representation of each fraction.

video introduction - Fossil Movie by Sheppard Software

Sand Art Math

Integrate math, art, and science by creating sand art!

Math

Have kids figure out the fraction of each color they use in their sand art (bottle or paper)

Capacity - Kids measure the sand they pour in the bottle

Science 

Rocks/Minerals Unit, rocks broken down equals sand!

For more fun with sand, check out the sand castle experiment!

Spiky Crystals

Grow crystals in your fridge with epsom salt and hot water!
Chemistry crystals (featured above) - Instructables
Cup of Quick Crystal Needles - About.com

You can also explore evaporation by growing crystals outdoors! Check out Exploratorium's Spiky Sun Crystals!

To incorporate this into a fossil unit, grow crystals on a sponge to investigate permineralization, visit Layers of Learning!

Pasta Rock

Kids take whole and broken pieces of pasta (1/2 cup) and mix it with 2 tbsp of water in a cup. They dump out the water. Then, they add 2 tbsp of glue to the wet pasta (sand - optional). They stir it around, pour it on wax paper (let it dry), and create coquina! "Coquina is a sedimentary rock (limestone) that’s formed when seawater minerals cement seashells and sand together." - Education.com. Check out the full activity here!

coquina rock image via Geology.Yoo7

Design a Rock

This experiment is from National Geographic Kids' book Jump Into Science: Rocks and Minerals by Steve Tomecek! Kids create their very own sedimentary rock!

materials:
plastic cup (book says 7oz)
glue
1/2 cup sand
1/2 cup small pebbles

1. cover bottom of cup with sand
2. pour glue on top (so all sand is covered)
3. drop pebbles in a layer on top of glue
4. add glue (cover pebbles)
5. pour second layer of sand
6. another layer of glue
("cup should be half full")
7. let dry for a week or until glue is hard
8. peel cup away (cut with scissors)
("if some glue is still wet, wipe with damp paper towel")

Fossil Sandwich

Investigate how fossils are formed by creating a fossil sandwich. Kids use bread to represent layers of sedimentary rock. They use books and their strength to represent heat and pressure! Then, they become mini archaeologists and extract their objects and examine the imprint left behind!

Visit Copetoons for Swedish Fish Fossil Instructions (above). This experiment demonstrates how rock keeps the shape of an animal if it hardens before the animal decomposes.

Check out Ice Age Life for creating a fossil sandwich using a variety of objects. This activity shows kids that some objects create a better print than others, just like real fossils!

Cookie Rocks and Mining

2 activities, Science and Economics:

1. Cookie Rocks - This experiment is inspired by Kinderpond's "C is for Cookie." Have all students sit around a large table. Give each kid a cookie. Then, have them destroy it! 

Weathering
First, have them experiment with a toothpick. Next, give them an ice cube to see the effects of ice on a cookie. They'll use the cube to chop at the cookie. Then, hand out an eyedropper to represent rain. Kids squirt water on the cookie. Note: You could even use a spray bottle.

Erosion
Once their finished demolishing their cookie, pass out straws. Have kids blow (wind) their cookie crumbles (rock fragments) toward the center of the table. Then, sweep their crumbs into a pile. 

Deposition
Add a couple drops of water to their crumbs (if needed) and squish them all together.


2. Cookie Mining Economics -  Check out the Museum of Science and Industry's Cookie Mining Project. Kids excavate chocolate chips from a cookie; but, first they have to purchase the materials they need and stay within their price range!

energy resources (renewable vs. non-renewable) - You can also use this activity to explore . Kids get a soft and hard chocolate chip cookie (which represent 2 landsites). Can they dig out coal without harming the landsite? Which site was easier to retrieve the coal? Visit Third Grade Thinkers for instructions!

Play Doh Rock Cycle

Demonstrate the rock cycle with play doh! Visit East Tennessee Wildflowers (featured below) for instructions (scroll down), as well as other hands on common core activities!

- Click here for more science (and math) play doh projects

- Check out other hands on geology activities here (including crayon rock models, soap rocks, and candy rocks) 
- Visit Science Matters for a Plate Tectonics play doh lesson

Geology Chef

Cook up some SWEET rocks in the Geology Kitchen! For more rock cooking classes click here!




Also, check out the SWEET Rock Lab by To the Square Inch!

Rocks and Weathering

screenshot of BBC Rocks and Weathering

BBC's Rocks and Weathering: cool, interactive, animated site, that I discovered over at one of my favorite EDTech blogs: Free Technology for Teachers. Rocks and weathering lets kids examine sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks up close and personal, teaching them how they form. Click here to check it out!

Rock On: Geology Around Us

Red Rock Canyon NCA Environmental Education Program has an awesome rock scavenger hunt! I adapted their version to use in a school, park, or home setting. Kids find rocks for each of the categories listed below. When they find a rock that fits the category, they draw it. Carry a bucket with you on your geology scavenger hunt and collect the rocks you find. Bring them back to the classroom to study for further investigation! 

photos via cc: bricks / gravel by Titus Tscharntke

What's that made of?! Examine your school, architecture, roads, and sidewalks. What are these items made up of? Rocks and Minerals! Examples: (stone, brick, concrete, gravel, etc.) Distinguish between man-made and natural rock. Talk about weathering. Are there any cracks in the sidewalk or road? What happens to rock when it rains? Discuss sediments. What happens to rock particles (sediments) when they weather away from rock? Do man-made materials weather as easily as natural rock? Click here for this project and more rocks and minerals activities for grades K-12 from Michigan.gov. Visit BrainPOP for a short video and simple lessons for introducing rocks and minerals.

fossil via cgs

While learning about geology, make a fossil! Visit California Geological Survey for instructions!

Hot Rocks

ART - Jazz up your stones! First, go on a nature walk for flat rocks. Bake rocks at 225 F for 15 minutes on a foil lined sheet. Make sure your rocks are super dry before you bake them. Remove stones, don't touch them! Use a spatula to slide them onto your work surface. Hold a peeled crayon with the tip touching the stone. You can create swirls, lines, dots, anything you'd like! Experiment with different colors, I kept mine simple - black, white, gold, and silver. SCIENCE - Ask kids if the crayon melting is a physical or chemical change. It's a physical change of matter!

Cave Pillar Experiment

While studying rocks and minerals and learning about weathering / deposition, build your very own stalactite! Kids see the formation of  "drip stone" in limestone caves caused by "precipitated water solutions" (calcium carbonate / minerals) in just a few days! New formations (stalactites) are created in caves due to mineral deposition. These formations take many, many, many years to form! For the scientific explanation of the diy stalactite in Steve Spangler's video, click here!

SWEET Rock Lab!

photo via to the square inch

To the Square Inch came up with a geology lab for kids to construct candy models of rocks!  

Rock Recipes:
Metamorphic: Take wheat and white bread, slice them into quarters. Next, stack them, alternating the bread (wheat, white).  Then, press down on the stack.

Sedimentary: Spread a layer of frosting on a graham cracker. Then add a thin layer of  "sediment" - sprinkles, swedish fish, and fruity pebbles. You repeat the process 2 times.

Igneous- Melt chocolate chips, pour on wax paper, and let harden.

Visit her site for the recording sheet and other cool science lab ideas!

Rocks and Minerals Station

photos via the crafty classroom

The Crafty Classroom had kids "explore the differences and similarities between various rocks and minerals." 
Visit the site for more details and a free printable!

Mechanical and Chemical Weathering

Mechanical Weathering Experiment via Mini Me Geology
materials:

Plastic Wrap

Clay

Water

1. Moisten the clay with a little bit of water

2. Divide the clay into two equal pieces and roll it into a ball or form into a square.

3. Wrap both pieces of clay in plastic wrap.

4. Place one piece of clay into the freezer overnight and leave the other piece out at room temperature. 

5. The next day, take the clay out of the freezer and unwrap both pieces. 

"Do the clay pieces look different?  If so, how?  Hint:  the clay from the freezer should have the some cracks.  Examine the clay with a hand magnifier to get a closer look at the cracks."

"Then, wrap each clay piece back up and put the one piece back into the freezer and repeat for several days.  Observe the clay pieces each day and see how the cracks change over time."  

For more great rock experiments, visit Mini Me Geology!

Chemical Weathering Experiment: Fizz Acid Test on Limestone via ehow
How does acid rain effects rocks? Put a piece of limestone in a cup of vinegar and watch it bubble. "Sediment will form at the bottom of the cup representing the erosion of rock." 

Lego Weathering: Erosion / Deposition

Beakers and Bumblebees made up an awesome, active lego relay race that reinforces the weathering process!
1. First, 2 teams build a lego landform
2. Next, a member from each team pulls a piece off of the landform (weathering) and brings it to the other side (erosion) to start building a new landform (deposition)!
3. Kids continue taking turns transporting pieces from one side of the room to the other until their original landform is completely weathered away!

Soap Erosion

via science matters

Science Matters placed a bar of soap on a sponge and let it sit in the sink to demonstrate erosion. Click the link for instructions and more creative experiments on weathering.

Crayon Rock Cycle

Featured Above:
Flying Fox Academy conducted a really cool experiment to show "how the same minerals can be changed into different types of rock depending on how they are formed." Click here to see how they made sedimentary and metamorphic crayons!

Momma Owl's Lab did an extension on the above experiment. Also, check out MJKSCI for more awesome rock cycle activities with crayons!