EVERYBODY, LET'S ROCK!

EVERYBODY, LET'S ROCK!

MASTER TEACHER Jose Silguero

GRADES 3- 5

OVERVIEW
Students will be introduced to the wonderful world of geology by a series

of investigations of the Earth's structure, the rock cycle, and the ongoing

process of geological change. They will discover that geologic events in

the past affect present and future changes in the Earth.

ETV SERIES
Bill Nye the Science Guy - Rocks and Soil #144
The Reading Rainbow - The Magic School Bus #701

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
*Students will be able to identify, classify, and present to the class the types

of rocks and their properties.

MATERIALS (per student)
Handout - "Three Hard Rocks"
Handout - Recipe for Playdough to construct a model of the Earth
Graph paper blackline master of a 1x1 centimeter sheet to chart the perimeter

and area of a rock
Length of string (approximately 1foot) to measure circumference of a rock
Handout - Changes in Landforms
Handout - Check for understanding with sequential order strips
Students will bring their favorite rock to class for use in activity #1

VOCABULARY - can be posted around the room on labels adhered to rocks
rock cycle - the ongoing process of geological change
minerals - inorganic earth material
igneous rocks - igneous rocks are formed from molten material on or below

the earth's surface
sedimentary rock - sedimentary rocks are formed when sediments are cemented

and compacted by the weight of overlying sediments to form a solid rock
metamorphic rock - metamorphic means "changed in form". Metamorphic

rocks are igneous, sedimentary, or other metamorphic rocks that have been

changed into a new rock by heat and pressure.
erosion - the moving of weathered rocks and soil by wind, water, and ice.

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Ask students if they know about the concept of morphing. Find out what this

term means to the students. Ask if they are familiar with the Animorph books

by Katherine Applegate. Show students the process of morphing depicted in

the book. You can give different examples or elicit responses like the change

that Dr. Jekyll makes to turn into Mr. Hyde, the change of Sleeping Beauty's

Maleficent into a dragon etc. Let the students know that, in nature, caterpillars

morph or change into butterflies and tadpoles into frogs. Remind them that

morph means to change physical form and that rocks form by morphing.

FOCUS FOR VIEWING
To give students a specific responsibility while viewing, ask students to

watch for and note the types of rocks and how they are formed. They are also

to identify any characteristics that can help identify certain rocks.

VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Start the video Bill Nye: Rocks and Soil after the song about soil bars.

The screen will show Bill Nye entering a door saying, "Did you ever stop to

think the whole world is covered with rocks?" Pause when Bill Nye places

metal cover on molten rock and the screen shows an erupting volcano.

Ask the students what molten rock that flows out of a volcano is called. (Lava)

Ask the students to listen for the characteristics of the way different types of

rocks are formed. Resume and pause when Bill Nye echoes out,

"Rocks rock!" The screen shows Bill Nye in front of a large hill. Ask the

students what this ongoing geological process is called. (rock cycle)

Fast forward through the segments showing Bill Nye kneeling collecting

soil samples and the boy making and eating a sandwich. While the video

is being fast forwarded, the teacher will check for prior knowledge by asking

for the three types of rocks.(igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic).

Pause video when Bill Nye appears after the boy eating a sandwich.

Bill says, " Scientists like to think of three types of rock." Resume video.

Activity #4, "Changes in Landforms" will be reviewed. Pause video when

the screen shows a lava flow to the left of the screen and Bill Nye says,

"Igneous rocks form when hot lava drips down sides of volcanoes to

form rocks like this granite." Review formation of igneous rocks with

students and answer question one from activity #4. Resume video after

question one is answered. Pause video when Bill Nye says, "Sedimentary

rock often has layers in it because that is the way sand washes downstream

in a river." The screen will show water rushing over some rocks. Answer

question three on activity #4. Resume video to hear description of

metamorphic rock. Pause video when Bill Nye says, "Heat and pressure

formed another rock!" The screen will show a boulder crushing Bill Nye.

Answer question two on activity #4. Fast forward after the boulder scene

and through the counselor scene. Pause video after static screen and Edward

James Olmos leaning on a marble table appears. While the tape is being fast

forwarded answer questions four and five on activity #4. Resume video.

Continue showing video through "Way Cool Scientist" segment. Pause tape

after the Way Cool Scientist segment and discuss what Chuck Natsuhara does

(soil scientist) and what his job entails.(checking soil samples and determining

what the soil is best suited for) Different career opportunities may be discussed

(soil scientist, geologist, agricultural extension agent). Fast forward video until

you get to Bill Nye holding an underwater camera filming waves from underwater

and the screen shows static. While tape is being fast forwarded students will

o activity #2 (checking rocks' circumference). After activity #2 is completed,

resume tape when screen shows pillar-like rock formations. Pause tape

when screen shows Bill Nye crossing a desert during a windstorm. Discuss

the different types of erosion and how each breaks down rocks(water freezing

and thawing in cracks, salt crystals breaking rocks apart, plant roots forcing

rocks apart, sand driven by wind). Fast forward video until the screen shows

hard hatted construction worker playing the guitar. While video is being fast

forwarded students sing activity #5, "Three Hard Rocks."Resume video.

Close lesson by viewing rock video. Stop video.

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Now that we have seen the Earth at work, let's try to that information in a

practical, hands-on application.

Activity #1
Students will place the rock that they were asked to bring to class on a

centimeter grid paper and see how many squares it covers to find the rock's area.

Activity #2
Students will wrap a string around their rock, mark it where it meets, and

then cut and measure the length of string with a centimeter ruler to find the

rock's circumference.

Activity #3
Students will get a length of string and trace the line around the grid paper

used in measuring the rock's area and will determine the perimeter of the area.

Activity #4
Students will complete the handout "Changes in Landform."

Activity #5
Students are to sing the song "Three Hard Rocks" and are to try to create

their own poem, song, or rap.

Activity #6
Students are to arrange the sentence strips in sequential order so that the

teacher may check for understanding.

Activity #7
Playdough can be made so that the students can create a model of the

earth's layers. This can be used as an extension of the lesson.

ACTION PLAN
Have a geology professor from a local university come and talk to

your students and show them samples of different rock compositions.

Take your students on a fieldtrip to see samples of local rock formations.

EXTENSIONS
Language Arts
Students may read How To Dig A Hole To The Other Side Of The

Earth by Faith McNulty, and The Magic School Bus Inside The

Earth by Joanna Cole, Students may research and write an essay

over the rock cycle. Students may write a poem.

Science/Math
In making the Play Dough Recipe, students will have to measure

and combine materials together correctly. Activities 1, 2, and 3.

Drama
Students are to create the different layers of the earth by having a

group of students huddle together in a tight circle to create the core,

another group loosely huddled around them moving slowly to create

the magma, and a last group gathered around them to create the crust.

Each can hold a different color paper to show the different layers.

Music
Students may create their own rap or song

Internet
http://info.er.usgs.gov:80/education/index.html - This address

has many lessons that can be used in your classroom.
http://www.uen.org/utahlink/lp_res/TRB019.html
http://www.acc.umu.se/~widmark/lwgeolog.html

Other suggested videos
The Earth's Crust by PBS
Bill Nye The Science Guy - #144Rocks and Soil
The Reading Rainbow - #701 The Magic School Bus Inside

The Earth

Careers
Have professionals from the following fields come and speak

to your students;
*soil scientist
*geologist
*agricultural extension agent
*science teacher
*natural resource conservationist.

Have students teach the learned concepts about rocks to a

younger class or to others in the class as a re-teaching tool.

This really verifies understanding.

ACTIVITY #4

Changes in Landforms

Vocabulary list: (these words are to placed on labels and

adhered to rocks or are to be written directly on rocks and

introduced to the students)
rocks minerals igneous metamorphic

erosion sedimentary weather

1. Find the names of the three different types of rocks in the

vocabulary word list. Circle them. The names of these rocks

tell you something about the way the rocks were formed. If

igneous comes from the Latin word ignis, meaning fire, how

do you think igneous rocks were formed?
_____________________________________________

______________________________________________

_____________________________________________

________________________________

2. If metamorphic comes from the Greek word metamorphosis,

meaning "to change," what do you think happened to metamorphic rock?
________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________

3. If sediment comes from the Latin word sedere, meaning "to sink down"

, how do you think sedimentary rock is formed?
______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______

4. If form means " the shape of something" , what do you think landform

means?
______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______

5. The Latin word glacies means "ice" or "frost". What do you think the

word for a mass of ice that moves is? Look closely at the word in Latin.
______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

____

ACTIVITY #5
THREE HARD ROCKS
( to the tune of "Three Blind Mice" )
Three hard rocks.
Three hard rocks.
See how they form.
See how they form.
They all have minerals deep inside
So far in the earth where they like to hide,
But a geologist can identify
three hard rocks

Igneous rocks.
Igneous rocks.
See how they form.
See how they form.
Granite cools slowly, obsidian fast.
They both are tools to help study our past.
Those igneous rocks.
Igneous rocks.

Sedimentary rocks.
Sedimentary rocks.
See how they layer.
See how they layer.
There's mud and sand and gravel, too.
They're carried by rivers and oceans blue
Where they stick together and bind like glue.
Sedimentary rock.
Sedimentary rock.

One last rock.
Metamorphic rock.
See how it forms.
See how it forms.
It's formed by joining the other two.
Adding some heat and some pressure, too.
Can you believe it, we're almost through
With three hard rocks.
Three hard rocks.

(written by a creative bunch of people at an ESC workshop)

ACTIVITY #6

Checking for Understanding
Sequential Order Sentence Strips

(Teacher is to write the following sentences on sentence strips.

The teacher then passes the strips to the students who are to place

the strips in sequential order. Teacher is to monitor to check for

accuracy. Correct order for the sentences are as follows.)

SET I
High temperatures melt minerals to form magma.

Magma cools and solidifies.

Igneous rocks form.

SET 2
Wind and water carry away particles of minerals, rocks, and the

remains of organisms.

Particles settle to form layers of sediment.

Sediment compacts, cements together, and hardens.

Sedimentary rocks form.

SET 3
Buried rocks undergo heat and pressure changes.

Rock changes in appearance, structure, and composition.

Metamorphic rocks form.
ACTIVITY #7

Play Dough Recipe

This is to be used to create the Science extension activity to create

a model of the earth's layers.

4 cups of baking soda

2 cups of cornstarch

2 1/2 cups of water

Mix all of the ingredients in a medium sized sauce pan and cook over

medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook 10 minutes until it is about the

consistency of mashed potatoes. Remove from the heat, turn out onto

a plate, and then cover with a damp cloth. After the dough is cool,

knead gently into a smooth ball. Store in a zip-lock bag and refrigerate

until ready to use. You can add food coloring to the dough to dye it.

Updated: April 01, 2008