1. Read the book Rocks (during Storytime)
2. Introduce rock words (descriptors) and go over what we'll be doing during Science time (during Storytime)
Students used the following rock words/descriptors:
crystals, rough, smooth, light, dark, small, large, pointy, hard, shiny, and round.
3. Prepare rock investigation table for nine students at a time (students will rotate between science and cooking)
Materials: black construction paper (rub rocks to get dust), mini magnifying glasses, rocks, crayons/colored pencils, Rock Record worksheet, and Rock Words worksheet
4. Show different rocks to students (scoria, river rocks, tuff, & basalt); hand out magnifying glasses for students to investigate the different rocks (color, texture, shape, etc.)
Note: Scoria was the biggest hit because of its color and when you rub them together you get rock dust that is very visible on the black construction paper.
5. Hand out black paper and have students rub same rocks together on top of paper to see what color dust they get; have them repeat this process with different rocks
6. Have students pick out one rock, hand out rock record worksheet, and have them draw their rock and write out what type of rock it is (rock piles will be labeled so students can copy rock names).
Note: We did not get to this part because the students were in awe of the rocks--feeling them out, rubbing them, smelling them, and looking at them with a magnifying glass. We'll do this piece when we introduce other rocks such as sulfur, pumice, etc.
The next day, our students were eager to look at rocks on the playground and our track trail. It was fun for me to see their excitement in looking for unique rocks--unique to them. :)
