Edible rocks.... Pet rocks.... Space rocks?
Make edible rocks...helps students see the difference in the three types of rocks. Igneous rocks---melt chocolate chips in microwave, (melted rock or magma) have a piece of wax paper on each desk and put a spoonful of melted chocolate on each wax paper for students to watch it cool and harden. *****Make Gumdrop Metamorphic rocks....Give each student 2 pieces of wax paper, give each student three different colored gum drops (cut into nine or ten pieces)---put the pieces of gum drops between the pieces of wax paper and have the students press the gumdrops together)remove the wax paper and discuss how heat and pressure make metamorphic rocks. Sedimentary Rocks...make and eat Rice Krispies. *****Make pet rocks Students bring a rock about the size of an egg. Use for experiments, do rocks sink or float. Be sure and have at least one rock that floats. Than make their rocks into Pet Rocks (teacher uses super glue ---to glue on two wiggly eyes.) Pet Rocks are their reading buddies and listen to students read. Students must read to their rock fifteen minutes each night to keep their rocks alive (we use this as part of our Book-It reading activity) (******Hard boiled egg cut in half with a red hot candy put in the center of the egg yolk = the different layers of the earth. Shell is the crust and is approximately 6-40 miles, the white represents the mantle and is approximately 1,800 miles, the yolk represents the outer core and is approximately 1,375 miles, the red hot is the very very HOT inner core and is approximately 1,750 miles. Read the book "The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth" this explains the layers of the earth and the composition of each.
