1. Topic-
Geology: Rocks
 
2. Content-
This is an earth science lesson that covers geology concepts such as the properties of rocks, the different rock sizes, how to sort rocks, and how rocks are used.
 
3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-
1.Students will study the properties of rocks and be able to classify them based off of observable properties
2. learn ways to sort rocks using observable properties
3. They will learn different vocabulary to classify rocks
 
4. Objectives-
1. Students will be introduced to geology via 3 different types of rocks: dark basalt, reddish scoria, and light-colored tuff.
2.They will explore the color, texture, and size of these rocks through observation and touch.
3.Finally, they will create dust by rubbing the rocks together.
 
5. Materials and Aids-
For each student:
- 1 set of rocks in Ziploc bag (2 basalt, 2 scoria, 2 tuff)
- 1 sheet of black paper and 1 sheet of white paper
- 1 hand lens
For the class:
- 1 paper plate
- 1 vial with cap
- Know, Wonder, Learn Chart on poster board
 
6. Procedures/Methods-

A. Introduction-

1. I want to grab the student's attention by explaining the use of rocks in the world history. For example, the oldest rocks known to man were found in Greenland and are almost 4 billion years old. Rocks therefore are one of the oldest objects you can collect. Rocks have been important to humans for thousands of years. They were once used as weapons, shelter and were used to create the spark necessary to start fires. People around the world have used rocks. Ancient Egyptians built pyramids out of rocks and carved hieroglyphics into rocks. Greeks used stones called calculi for adding and subtracting. Hopi women used flat stones to grind corn. In the colonial days, American children wrote on rocks known as slate. Astronauts collected rocks on their visits to the moon, and scientists studied their rocks hoping to learn more about the Solar System.
2.Gather students on the rug. Say, "Today is the first day of our new unit: Pebbles, Sand and Silt. Before we get started, we are going to make a Know, Wonder, and Learn chart. Let's think of some things that we already know about rocks. These will go in the Know category. What are some things we want to know "� or wonder about rocks? These will go in the Wonder category. At the end of the lesson, we will fill in what we learned about rocks.
 

B. Development-

1.Hold up a Ziploc bag of rocks. Say: What do I have in the bag? (Rocks)Tell students: Each of you will get a bag of rocks like this and a magnifying lens. Empty the rocks out on the table, observe them, and figure out how many different kinds of rocks there are. What things might you look for? Tell students they will use hand lenses to look at their rocks. Each student will get a hand lens. Show the students how to hold the lens against their eye socket, then move the rock until it comes into focus.
2. Hold up sample rocks one at a time. Ask students to suggest words that describe the rocks. Tell students we are going to keep a list of all the words we use to describe rocks. This will be on a Rock Words poster. We will also have our usual Word Bank, that contains the new scientific terms we learn. Record student suggestions to add to the Rock Words Bank.
3.Tell the students that they can find out even more about the different rocks by rubbing them together. Demonstrate by rubbing together one pair of rocks over a sheet of black paper. Tell them to rub the same rocks and different rocks over both types of paper. Suggest rubbing each pair of rocks over black paper and white paper and observing what happens.
 

C. Practice-

1.Distribute the bags of rocks and hand lenses to students. Allow them to observe and sort the rocks for about 10 minutes.
2. Call students back to rug, leaving rocks at the tables. How many different kinds of rocks did you find? (3 "� dark gray/hard, reddish with holes, and a light colored rock).
3.Give each student the black and white pieces of paper. Allow 5-10 minutes for rubbing. Students may observe:
- some rocks are harder than others
- some leave marks on other rocks
- they can write on the paper with some rocks
Put a paper plate at each table. Instruct students to dump her rock dust on the paper plate. Pour the entire classes' dust into 1 vial. This just helps the students realize how much dust rocks can make
 

D. Independent Practice-

1.Assign each student to go home and observe the rocks in their backyard/lot and have them classify the rocks based off of the terms added to the Rock Words Bank and to bring their observations back with them. I can also turn this into a formative assessment in class where I give the students certain rocks to look at that they must classify.
2. I can make a formative vocabulary test where each student must define the terms we came up with for the Rock Word Wall
 

E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-

1.If students need assistance on the independent work, the teacher should set up a designated spot in the room (table or rug) to work with those who need extra help.
2.If a student has ADD or ADHD, the teacher should monitor the student to help keep him/her on task, and remind the student of the amount of time remaining for each part of the lesson.
3.If a weak student is having trouble, have a stronger student help her when she is finished with her work.
 

F. Checking for understanding-

1.I should be focusing on the student's ideas and thoughts about the rocks and their observations. I should observe their participation in all discussions.
2. I should be walking around during the independent practice time, observing the student's work. Are they correctly using the hand lenses and rubbing the rocks together to make dust?
3. We can come back to the KWL chart where we will fill in the Learn column as a class and see if we can answer all of our questions from the Wonder column
 

G. Closure-

1.Gather students back on the rug. Show students the vial and tell them we are saving the dust to look at again later. Call on volunteers to discuss what they've observed.
2. Ask:
- How can we classify rocks
- What happens when you rub two rocks together?
- What should we call the stuff that comes off the rocks? (dust)
- Was there one rock that made rock dust easier than the others? Why could that be?
 
7. Evaluation-
1. Eventually, the student will learn about the three different rock types (sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic) The final summative assessment will not only ask them about vocabulary learned throughout the unit but ask them to define the characteristics of certain rocks and put them in one of the three rock categories.
2. At the end of the unit, each student will pick a rock from one of the three categories and make a poster about it. I will be looking for, type of rock, what it is used for, it's properties, where it is found, etc. For example, if a student picked Marble, I would be looking for them to say it is a metamorphic rock from limestone etc.
 
8. Teacher Reflection-
Not only should I be reflecting on the answers to the formative and summative assessments but I should be reflecting on how the students behaved throughout the lesson. Were they engaged? Did they seem lost? etc. You can tell a lot by observing body language. If I noticed that a lot of the students seemed perplexed even after I explained something, I should perhaps look back into how I presented the information and make modifications for the future.
 

This Lesson Plan is available at (www.teacherjet.com)