Rocks

In the 1930s, wind erosion and dry weather and poor farming practices caused the prairie lands and grasslands in the middle parts of the United States to lose up to four inches of topsoil. This was disastrous to the many farmers who lived in this area. The native grasses of the prairies had always held the soil in place and protected it from erosion.  Increased cattle herds also ate the native grasses and plants that protected the soil.  As the grasses were replaced with crops such as wheat, erosion increased.  After the wheat was harvested, the bare soil was exposed.  Lack of rain caused the soil to be very dry.  A long period of dry weather with high winds caused the fertile soil to blow away.  Use the resources on Utah’s Online Library to research and gather more information about this period of American history which is called the Dust Bowl.  Go to Gale Kids InfoBits and search for Dust Bowl.  You will find some excellent magazine articles (choose Magazines from the menu on the right) about Dust Bowl life.  Working in groups of 3-4 students, write a Reader’s Theater about what it might have been like for families living through this difficult part of American history.

We all know the story of the Three Little Pigs and their interactions with the Big Bad Wolf.  The pigs built homes from straw, sticks, and bricks.  With a partner, rewrite this tale.  Have the pigs make their homes from igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks, and sedimentary rocks.  Decide which kinds of igneous rock (basalt? pumice? obsidian? granite?) that one of the pigs would choose.  Describe the characteristics of the rocks and why they were or were not good building materials.  Describe the wolf’s efforts to huff and puff around each home.  Have fun with this classic tale!

Design a Rock and Mineral Scavenger Hunt for a different 4th grade classroom in your school or for a 4th grade classroom in a different school.  You could include such things as halite (a mineral--which is simply table salt), granite (a rock--which could be found on the outside of buildings or even in yards), diamond (a mineral--which is easy to find in someone’s jewelry), gold (a mineral--which is easy to find in jewelry), calcite (a mineral—can be found in toothpaste), chalk (a rock—which can be found in art supplies), etc. etc.  Use your good background in minerals and rocks to produce a comprehensive and fun hunt. On the scavenger hunt organizer that you create, have your fellow students check off that they found the required mineral or rock and also have them record exactly what they found and where they found it. If the classroom that you are partnering with has ipads or other devices or access to a classroom set of cameras, you could also have students take a photograph of the objects that they find in the scavenger hunt and have them include them with their scavenger hunt organizer that you design.

Infographics are “graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly.” (quote source: Wikipedia). Infographics are a terrific method to demonstrate what we know about a certain topic.  Using an online infographic creator, design your own infographic about a topic such as the formation of igneous rocks, the formation of metamorphic rocks, the formation of sedimentary rocks, the rock cycle, minerals, mineral identification, weathering, erosion, etc.  This could also be developed as a hard copy poster.

Write an editorial to your local newspaper that encourages citizens of Utah to be good stewards (caretakers) of the earth and to preserve Utah’s rock wonders in places such as Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, the San Rafael Swell, Snow Canyon, Arches National Park, etc.

From your school or public library, get a copy of Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin.  Worms are an important part of healthy soil.   In this book, a young worm details his day to day activities.  Create a Venn diagram about real worm activities vs the book’s worm activities.  OR  Write your own Diary of a Different Decomposer (snail? roly poly bug? earwig? slug?) book. Be sure and include plenty of factual information about soil.

Make a word cloud all about igneous rocks.  Use an online tool such as Wordle or Wordclouds or Word It Out.  Include types of igneous rocks, words about how igneous rocks are formed, words that describe igneous rocks, etc.  Partner with another student to brainstorm all your fiery igneous rock words.

Using concept mapping software such as Inspiration, develop an image map that illustrates the rock cycle.  There are also many online concept map creators.

Imagine a huge boulder in the San Rafael Swell in southern Utah that is subjected to weathering and erosion.  Rocks actually expand and get slightly bigger when the sun shines warmly on them.  Rocks also shrink when the temperature is cold.  Over many years, this boulder develops several small cracks in it because of its expanding and shrinking.  Then it rains, and water fills the cracks.  When the temperature is low, the water freezes, and the force of the ice makes the crack bigger.  Particles and tiny pieces of the rock fall off as the cracks continue to grow.  Eventually little plants start to grow in these cracks.  The roots of the plants make the cracks bigger, and more tiny bits of rock crumble and fall off.  (There are many more processes besides ice that contribute to the weathering of rocks).  Write a 1st person narrative from the viewpoint of the boulder where it describes all of the processes that cause it to become part of the rock cycle and the development of soil.

Field guides are illustrated book that are designed to help people identify plants and animals.  There are field guides for people who want to learn about which birds live in their state and where they can find them and what the birds look like, and the guides include many interesting facts about each bird.  There are field guides for people who want to learn about the wildflowers that grow in their state.  There are field guides for people who are interested in the reptiles that live in their state.  Working in a team of 3-4 students, design a Field Guide to the Rocks and Minerals of Utah.

You may know that the great lakes were formed because Paul Bunyan dug them to provide drinking holes for Babe, his big blue ox. A visit to the beautiful rock formations in Bryce Canyon in Utah has left you wondering how the fantastic formations came to be. Write a tall tale about how a larger-than-life tall tale character (like Paul Bunyan) played a role in the creation of Bryce Canyon.

Interview a rock.

It can take 500 to 1000 years just to build one inch of topsoil.  You are the owner of Greenside Landscaping.  Your company specializes in landscaping parks, shopping malls, and large business complexes.  Most of your customers are very environmentally conscious and always want their landscapers to be responsible with natural resources.  Using Powerpoint or some other presentation tool, produce a sales presentation to convince your prospective customers to hire you.  Include the environmental practices that you use that will ensure that soil will be protected and nurtured and conserved.