On Wednesday, we literally spent the entire day in the conference room talking about WWC, or Working With Children. We learned a lot of different things from best teaching practices, to working with kids who have special needs, to being sensitive to the local cultural differences.
Thursday, September 1, 2011: Learning our Outdoor Stations
Today was time for outdoor training on how our stations will work when the kids come to Arches.
We loaded up the car and headed into Arches. We then acted out the stations as if there were children there so we would have a general idea of what to do. The second graders are learning about rocks, so this is an overview of the stations we will be doing with them.
So, we do a “pre-trip” on Fridays where we visit the school and go to 5+ classrooms and discuss the topic. Then, on the following Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we do the field trips and the post-trip.
Pre-Trip Activity: Just What Are Rocks, Anyway?
It is during this station that students should be able to understand that rock underlies everything on the surface of the earth, and they should be able to name one category that can be used to classify a rock.
We will talk about if any of the students have rock collections at home, and how collecting is fun, but in some places collecting is not allowed. Can the students guess why you should not collect rocks in certain places? Then we read them a book called Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop. What ways can rocks be classified?
Rocks are handed out to each student. Each student is given an opportunity to see the rock, and a few students can stand up and show their rock and say something about it. Observations about ways rocks can be classified are discussed.
Station 1: Rocks, Rocks and More Rocks!
We tell students that we will be examining rocks and that we have a “magic box” full of rocks to share with them. Keep in mind, these are second graders. As we pull out certain rocks such as sandstone, granite, petrified wood, limestone, quartzite, and chert- and tell the story of how they were created. The rocks are handed out, one at a time. As the students pass them around the circle, they are asked which rock they think is the hardest, softest, and heaviest. What rock matches the one you are sitting on?
They are asked to sort the rocks by making piles. For example, all the rocks that were once liquid in one pile and any others that were once living things in another. Students will then sort the rocks in 5 or 6 other different ways.
Students are put into pairs and one is blindfolded. The student without a blindfold is then asked to choose one rock each to give to their partner. The blindfolded student then feels the rock (behind their backs so they don’t peek, second graders will cheat at this game!). What is the size, shape, weight and texture like? When they have made a guess, they will give the rock back to their partner who will then mix it into the pile. With blindfolds removed, they will try to guess which rock was theirs in the pile. How did you recognize your rock? The partners then switch roles and repeat the activity. How can geologists tell the difference between kinds of rock? They ask similar questions like how heavy is it? Is it hard or soft? How does it break? What color is it?
Then it’s time for the Rock Type Relay! Students are put into two teams. The rock pile is placed in front of the teams about 20 feet away. The teacher will then call out a name or characteristic of a rock. The first student must run, choose the correct rock, and return back to the line. The game continues until the teacher runs out of clues!
Station 2: Build Up, Tear Down
After this station, students should be able to name two processes that change rocks, name two things that harden rocks, and name two things that erode rocks.
Do you think that they way the earth looks changes over time? The area where you are sitting looked different a million years ago. In Colorado, there was a mountain as tall as Mount Everest. In Moab, there was an ocean. Over time, the dirt from the mountain washed down into the ocean, eventually hardening into rock.
Do you know how sand hardens into rock? The recipe has four ingredients. Would you like to go on a treasure hunt to find the missing ingredients for making sandstone? Read the first clue- which leads student to the ‘sand’ card. The card is placed on the big Recipe Card. The next clue is ‘pressure’, next ‘water’, then finally ‘time’. You don’t know what ‘pressure’ is? Put your hands together in one pile. Can the hands near the bottom feel the pressure?
Now it is time to try and make sandstone. We go to a sandy area and each student makes a personal pile of sand on the nearby rock. Apply pressure to your sand by stomping on it. Water is poured on each pile and we discuss the role of water moving between sand grains which cements them together. For the time ingredient, students need to keep stomping for another 5,000 years. Would you be bored by then? Would you be dead by then?
Now it’s time for the Sandstone Recipe Rhyme: “Sand, pressure, water, time; that’s the sandstone recipe rhyme!” Move your fingers for ‘sand’, push hands down for ‘pressure’, make swimming motions for ‘water’, point to wrist for ‘time’, and march in place or snap during ‘that’s the sandstone recipe rhyme!’
When sandstone is exposed to air it starts to erode. Can anyone tell me what erosion is? Erosion is the wearing down or the weathering of rocks. Have you ever burned a piece of toast and then taken a knife and scraped off the burned part, making all the burnt crumbs fall on the plate? You were eroding your toast, slowly wearing it away and making small pieces fall off. Do rocks erode because a giant is scraping them with a knife? The causes of erosion are wind, water, and ice.
We then take a short hike around the sandstone and students find examples of erosion. A crack in the sandstone means that water might be able to get into that crack. Ice is the number one cause of erosion! The students stand in a circle shoulder to shoulder. They are water molecules during a nice warm day. The sun is going down, and it is getting very cold, and they are freezing. They then stick out their elbows, and the circle gets bigger when they freeze! Water expands when it freezes, and then thaws to become smaller again. Everyone stands shoulder to shoulder again and goes through the cycle of night and day again, when two students press their hands against each other. When water seeps into a crack and freezes, it pushes the crack apart because of the expanding molecules. The teacher puts her hands in between the students’ hands. As the ice thaws, the teacher’s hands seep lower into the crack between the students’ hands, demonstrating the freezing/thawing process. This is done several times until the hands are pushed several inches apart, and one of the rocks falls!
There was once sandstone covering this whole area and everything you see is the result of erosion. Build a mound of sand with rocks inside of it. Some sandstone is harder than others. Hard sandstone erodes more slowly than the soft sandstone, making the unique formations throughout the area. Water is poured on the mound and the rocks gradually are exposed, creating newly created formations.
Station 3: Secrets in the Soil
After this station, students will be able to explain two roles of biological soil crusts, name two places to walk to avoid stepping on the soil crusts, and name two organisms that make up soil crusts.
Look around. What do you see besides rock? What happens when the sand blows? Why doesn’t it all blow away? There are living substances called biological soil crusts that keep the sand in place.
Teachers use a flannel board to tell the story of CB the Crypto. He is a puppet that lives in the middle of the board. He is introduced to the children, and gets to be a part of the explanation about biological soil crusts. The crust holds the soil in place, preventing erosion and soaking up water like a sponge, provides nutrients for plants, and provides protected places for seeds to grow. The puppet tells the students that there is one thing it fears, and that is being crushed because it takes so very long for it to grow back.
It’s time to see some real soil crust! There are three places to walk to avoid stepping on the crust: on trails or road, in washes, or on rock. Students then practice walking on trails by taking turns tiptoeing through the crypto mat, avoiding the crypto bumps.
The students then lay belly-down in front of a patch of cryptos, and are challenged to look at them for 30 seconds without talking. Each student is asked to name something they see in the soil crust. Hand lenses are given out so the students can see the lichens, mosses, plants, indentations to hold seeds, insects, etc. A photo of magnified cyanobacteria is shown, and sheaths are shown by holding up a loose piece of crypto.
Each student is given a costume and a name tag. There are specific boundaries and they are going to play a game of tag. The student who is cyanobacteria must use their long, stringy gloves to tag each of the other students who are sand grains, lichen, and moss. The first student tagged will grab onto the cyanobacteria’s shoulders forming a snake. As each student is tagged they add onto the back of the snake until an entire crypto bump is formed (all students have been tagged).
The last station, Station 4, is called Rocks: Past and Present
Students will be able to name two modern uses of rocks, and describe how people used to use rocks.
At one time, did people use rocks in their everyday lives? What are some ways that ancient people used rocks like arrowheads, grinding stones, etc? Here are some examples of ancient rock technology. What was each used for? Why are different rocks used for different purposes? Would sandstone make a good knife? Why was chert used for arrowheads? Was it difficult to make arrowheads and other tools?
Have you ever played charades? In this game of charades, you are going to act out a way that ancient people used rocks. One student acts out a way rocks were used, such as shooting a bow and arrow, hunting with a spear, grinding corn, etc. The other students must guess what is being acted out!
Do people still use rocks everyday? What are some examples of how rocks continue to be a part of our lives, like in jewelry, landscaping, pencils, etc. Pictures are shown of modern uses of rocks. Many of the rocks we use today have been changed or refined. Some examples are shown that are made out of rock ore. What are some other objects made out of rock? Then we discuss the refining process by reading a book named “Metal”.
Time to show the Ancient Uses of Rock poster! Some pictures are hidden around the area and the students must find the pictures. The pictures are then placed on the poster next to the corresponding picture of an ancient use.
Students are asked to sit in a circle. As a group, we are going to review by completing a crossword puzzle. Questions are read and students try to answer.
During the post-trip activity, we talk about Rock Art. This is done only after the field trip has been completed as kind of a follow-up.
Students will be able to describe two things about a rock that could easily be missed, and name one use for a rock.
What are some ways people use rocks? Do you remember learning about a microscopic organism that helps to prevent erosion? How do soil crusts help prevent erosion? What are some other things that biological soil crusts provide for the natural environment? What are things that can harm soil crusts?
Not all rocks are created the same way. Some rocks were once liquid inside the earth. We call these igneous rocks! What rock was once a liquid? Granite! What happens to rocks over time? Erosion! The sediments from erosion pile up. What happens to these sediments over millions of years? They harden into rocks! We call these rocks sedimentary rocks. Rocks sometimes get buried deep in the earth, melt, and change. If this happens, metamorphic rocks are formed.
Paper is passed out to each student. Fold the paper in half. A box of rocks is brought out and one is given to each student. The student is then asked to draw their rocks on one side of their paper. What type of rock do you have? Write the type of rock under the drawing. A hand lens is given to each student, and they are asked to examine their rocks and draw what they see on the other side of the paper.
Students are then asked to tell their neighbor some neat things about their rock. Each student with an igneous rock raise them up to show the class. Then metamorphic, then sedimentary. Did you see something with the hand lens that you did not see with your eyes? Do you think scientists use hand lenses to learn about rocks?
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