Rock Hunters is a fun, interactive activity ideal for children in kindergarten to second grade. It's easy, encourages the children to work in pairs and allows them to explore their school grounds. To begin, hand out a brown paper lunch bag to each child or pair and head outside with the group. Explain that the class is hunting for various rock types and sizes, and they will need to collect them in their bags. Once back inside, instruct all students to place their rocks in front of them and pick them up one at a time, noticing the differences between them. Write some questions to prompt inquisitive thinking on the board and verbalize those details throughout the exercise. Suitable questions are, 'Do all rocks weigh the same when you pick them up?' 'What colors are present?' and 'How many different sizes are there?' Have paper clips on hand for children to link together so they can measure the length of the rocks. Record all findings together on the blackboard through class discussion. Ask students to draw their favorite rock and its attributes in a science journal.
After initially introducing students to the rock cycle, strengthen their understanding of the principles with the Ride the Rock Cycle activity. Have rocks on hand for visual reference and display at the front of the class. Next, inform students that their job is to write, draw or illustrate a story, picture or comic strip reflective of what they've learned about the three life stages of a rock-- metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary. Encourage students to use their creativity to express what kind of life each stage of rock would live if it were human.
Simply Sediments is a fun, interesting activity appropriate for grades three to six. Instruct each student to bring in an empty, clean 16 to 20 ounce clear plastic bottle. Either you can head outside as a class in search of the other necessary materials or students can pick them up in their neighborhoods and bring them in. Required items include pebbles, sand, dirt, mud, rocks, stones, twigs, soil and clay. To begin, instruct children to fill their bottles one-third of the way with water. Next, add materials of their choosing to the bottle. Remind them that the goal is to attempt to create a bottle that holds enough sand, dirt or soil to hide the rocks, pebbles and twigs. Allow students to play with the amounts of the materials, adding more clay or sand if the heavier items stick out of the top of the soil mixture too much. Fill the bottle and cap it. Place all bottles on a windowsill. Check bottles periodically over the next week to monitor the changes in the weight, density and hardening of the mixture. After at least one week, open the bottles and instruct students to excavate hard materials and record observations.