Rocks Tell a Story

Book Chapter | March 2016

In this chapter, the objective of the activity “Pretend Rocks” is to notice the range in grain size in sedimentary rocks and think about how such rocks are formed. Chapters 1 and 2 are also included in this book…

My Favorite Rock

Book Chapter | May 2019

This activity is about collecting rocks. Take the children on a rock hunt and ask them to select three rocks to put in their bags. Once back inside, have each child choose one rock to show to the others and describe…

All Kinds of Rocks

Book Chapter | May 2019

This activity is about exploring rocks. Put out a box of rocks and let children explore, observe, and compare rocks, matching them by shape, size, and color. Encourage children to use magnifiers as they observe. A…

Modeling the Rock Cycle

Book Chapter | February 2019

The guiding questions in this activity are,“Are all rocks formed the same way and how does rock change during the rock cycle?” Rocks are constantly being recycled on Earth and what happens to a rock depends on the…

Can a Plant Break Rocks?

Book Chapter | March 2016

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about weathering. The probe is designed to find out whether students recognize that plants, including small plants, can cause weathering of rock. Plant…

Solid or Liquid? Rock Behavior Within Earth

Book Chapter | April 2011

Engaging Students with Magnets, Rulers, Globes, Rocks, Leaves, and . . . Dogs

Journal Article | July 2023

Study Your Sandwich: Sedimentary Rock Layers, Structures, and Relative Ages

Book Chapter | March 2011

In this activity, students make a triple-decker, soy butter with raisins and jelly sandwich to model sedimentary rock formations. They take core samples with a straw, fold the sandwich into synclines and anticlines, and…

Engaging Students at All Academic Levels in an Inquiry-Based Paleoecologic Learning Activity—Even When You Don’t Have the Rocks

Journal Article | October 2021

Inquiry-based learning is an educational strategy that emphasizes the student’s role in the learning process by having them propose and test hypotheses through experimentation and/or the collection of observational data…

Rocks as Windows into the Past: Taking the idea of rocks as stories and developing a rock investigation

Journal Article | February 2000

In order to best teach fourth-grade students about rocks, the author used an empowering metaphor—rocks as stories from the past—that was applied to an entire unit. Rather than seeing rocks as lifeless, uninteresting…

Poetry Rocks!

Journal Article | October 2015

Writing poetry provides an engaging and creative outlet for primary students to share observations made during scientific investigations.