In order to best teach fourth-grade students about rocks, the author used an empowering metaphor—rocks as stories from the past—that was applied to an entire unit. Rather than seeing rocks as lifeless, uninteresting chunks students kick while walking down the street, they could view them in a new way: as windows into the geologic history of Earth. This article describes this inquiry-based lesson and how it resulted in positive attitudes towards science, more passionate learners, and more scientifically literate children.