We’ve been studying geology and rocks in science lately.

  The kids really enjoy learning about

rocks.  It’s been a great exploration of many geologic processes and concepts.

We started by reading quite a few geology books from our personal library and our library in
town.  We learned about the layers of the earth and the basic make-up of the planet. We studied
volcanoes and the ring of fire.  We also grew crystals and learned about how those form and
what they have to do with rocks.  And  of course, we read about the three rock families –
sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous.
After the kids were versed on the basics, it was time for some hands-on experimentation.  I
spread a bunch of rocks out on our table and provided them with hand lenses to observe the
rocks.  We spent quite a long time just finding crystals, checking out the cleavage of various
rocks (how they break), and pointing out any neat characteristics we noticed.  We also sorted
them into rock families based on our reading.

I decided to teach them another simple concept we hadn’t come across in our books: mafic
versus felsic.  Mafic rocks are primarily dark colored while felsic are primarily light.  I drew two
circles on the butcher paper table covering and had them sort yet another way.  I had to correct a
few of their placements, but overall they did well.  They put a few on the mafic side that had
dark inclusions in otherwise light-colored rocks.  Those actually classify as felsic.  Can you spot
their mistakes?

We also filled out a Rock Cycle Printable.

 Click on the link or the picture to
get the free printable.
Of course, we discussed how this cycle doesn’t necessarily keep to the perfect order shown on
the printable.  The earth is always moving and rocks change based on their geologic
surroundings.
 
After that I pulled out a rock and mineral set I purchased from Home Science Tools and gave my
kids several rock and mineral identification tables I got from online.  There were 15 specimens in
the kit that were numbered, but not labeled.  I added 2 more rocks to it (pumice, which I bought
in the cleaning section of our grocery store, and limestone which I had collected at a beach long
ago) and then asked my kids to do their best to identify each specimen.  They were amazing!
They performed scratch tests with a nail, streak tests using ceramic tiles, and checked flotation in
a basin of water.  They searched for crystals using magnifying glasses, identified some rocks by
their smell, and checked the rocks’ cleavage to see how they broke.  Their favorite test was the
acid test.  They identified the limestone by seeing that it reacted with the drops of hydrochloric
acid they put on it.  They ran all kinds of tests to help determine what kinds of rocks and
minerals we were dealing with.
Eli
zabeth is doing a scratch test on her sample.
Ma
netite can easily be identified by seeing if a magnet is attracted to it.
Limestone fizzes when you drop a bit of hydrochloric acid on it.
Pumice floats! Some of the other air-filled igneous rocks also floated briefly before filling with
water and sinking to the bottom.
Tyl
er determining whether or not this rock has crystals. That was always the first question we ask
ed ourselves because
In the end, we successfully identified all seventeen of our samples.  On occasion I had to steer
them in the right direction or give hints reminding them about a test they hadn’t performed yet,
but they did all the tests on their own and did a stand-up job with the whole thing.  It was a
terrific culmination to show all that they learned over the past month.  We’re all full-fledged rock
hounds now.