Rocks
Fri, Oct 19, 2012 12:42 AM
Better for upper elementary
The Rock SciGuide is a quick resource to learn about the topic of rocks with lesson ideas primarily for grades 5-8. The Rock SciGuide is divided into three sections: Formation of Rocks, History of Rocks, and Soil, which can be found in the Rocks SciGuide Map. Also in this SciGuide Map, one can find the links used for each of these sections. For instance under the Theme: History of Rocks, there will be links for History of Rocks and Movement of Elements. Clicking on any of these links will navigate you to a new website with more ideas and lessons. This SciGuide Map is a very quick resource to see what is available for this topic.
After you click any one of the themes and under the NSTA Resource Collection heading, there are many more resources for grade levels above and below this intended SciGuide. This is where I found the K-4 resources, which were mainly book and journal articles. From several of these journal articles, sprung ideas for incorporating these ideas into my own classroom using the resources and books that I already have. One of the ideas from one of the journal articles was to have the students bring in their own rocks from the community. In my classroom, the students will be asked to bring in their own collection of rocks. Using their group’s rocks, they will use their observational skills to create a bubble map of the general characteristics of rocks. This will enable the introduction of scientific terms (texture, composition, luster, etc.) Later, the class will create a tree map by categorizing their observations from their bubble maps under the headings of texture, size, shape, color, etc. As we read informational texts about rocks, the students will add more characteristics to the class tree map using a different color sticky notes or colors to show . The use of different colors in our note taking will demonstrate the addition of knew knowledge to our schema. As a concluding assignment, the students could choose one rock in particular to create a “Missing Pet Rock”. Students will choose their rock then while using their knew found skills in making more scientific observations of their rock, the students will create a “Missing Rock” Flyer. Students will then try and match the “Missing Rock” flyer to the rock sample.
As for suggestions for improvement to this particular SciGuide, I would have liked to see a SciGuide for lower elementary. Otherwise, the ideas from the journal articles was terrific!