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  • Rocking Around the Rock Cycle

    Book Chapter |

    “What type of rock is this?” is a common question spoken by all children at some point in their young lives. Many students have rocks of all shapes and sizes in their “collections.” In this chapter, young students will…

  • The Rock Cycle: Rock Formation and Change

    Book Chapter |

    A single rock could provide an example of how slowly most geological changes occur on Earth. If you picked up a rock and kept it for the rest of your life, you would probably notice that it changes little, if at all.…

  • Gravity Rocks!

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about gravity. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that objects closer to the center of Earth's mass experience the greatest…

  • Lifting a Rock

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about levers and fulcrums. The probe is specifically designed to determine whether students can differentiate between the concept of force and the…

  • Rocks and Minerals

    Book Chapter |

    The Reading on Rocks and Minerals elaborates on the concepts presented in the Activities section of Project Earth Science: Geology, Revised 2nd Edition. This Reading was written especially for this volume with the…

  • Rocks and Soils

    Book Chapter |

    Rocks and soil are indeed a part of everyday life and an important component of a complete science curriculum. Use the lessons in this chapter to introduce students to rocks and soils in their local area and beyond. The…

  • Keweenaw Rocks

    Book Chapter |

    In this lesson, a girl wonders how volcanic rocks and sedimentary rocks ended up in the same area of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Key words and concepts covered are rock cycle, formation of rocks, plate tectonics,…

  • Stories in Rocks

    Book Chapter |

    This chapter focuses on reading the earth in the rocks. Rocks tell the story of Earth’s past, and we believe that lessons on rocks should include a focus on reading those stories. Many students encounter rocks as an…

  • Rocks Tell a Story: Rock Characteristics and Environmental Clues

    Book Chapter |

    Identifying rocks can be difficult, even for geologists. Proper rock identification depends on the quality of the specimen and on the clarity of its significant characteristics. In this activity, students observe and…

  • Observing and Sorting Rocks

    Book Chapter |

    In this activity, students examine garden variety rocks, classifying them based on observable properties. This lesson teaches students not only about rocks but also about how to take a closer look at objects and…

  • Rock Solid Science

    Book Chapter |

    Children are naturally curious about the world around them, including the rocks beneath their feet. By observing, describing, and sorting a variety of rocks, students can discover that rocks have certain physical…

  • Spenser and the Rocks sample

    Book Chapter |

    In this sample of Spenser and the Rocks: I Wonder Why, Spenser has a rock collection. He notices that the rocks were different in other ways besides color. Come learn with Spenser about rocks!

  • Stories in Rock Layers

    Book Chapter |

    This chapter focuses on reading the earth in the layers of rock. Whereas rocks tell the story of what a place was like at one time in the past, layers of rock tell the story of how that place changed through time. The…

  • Rock-Solid Evidence

    Book Chapter |

    Many students have never looked carefully at rocks. For this reason, looking closely at several different types of rocks is important for preparing them to learn about how rocks are classified. In this chapter, one goal…

  • Sedimentary Rock Layers

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about layers of sedimentary rock. The probe is designed to find out how students think about the age of rock layers. It is best used with grades 6–12,…

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