Examining the Characteristics of Rocks and Minerals

Third graders at HSA-DE have been busy learning about the Earth.  So far in this interdisciplinary unit, we have learned about the Earth's landforms, the Earth's layers, and fast and slow changes to the Earth's surface.  Recently we have been investigating the Earth's non-living resources and their properties.  One of the non-living resources we have been investigating is rocks and minerals.  

Darren, James, and Angel are investigating rocks and recording observations.

Ohio's New Learning Standards for Science tell us that the characteristics of rocks must be studied through sampling, observation and testing. To do this Ms. Amstutz brought in her sons' rock and mineral collection to share with the class.  These rocks and minerals were collected over a period of 15 years and were gathered from across 5 states from various different caves and caverns.  

One of the P.R.I.D.E groups sorted their rocks and minerals by color.

Students worked in their P.R.I.D.E. groups to gather measurable data and notice observable characteristics of rocks including size and shape of the particles or grains (if present) within the rock, texture and color. Age-appropriate tools such as magnifying glasses were used to test and measure the properties. 

Shy'Diamond examines a rock with a magnifying glass.

The Ohio New Learning Science Standards also ask student to test for  the ability of water to pass through samples of rock or soil.  Because we will be doing a soil erosion study in the upcoming days, we opted to conduct a different test on our rocks.  We decided to test for the presence of calcium carbonate in our rocks.  Calcium carbonate is found in some rocks such as marble, limestone, and chalk.  

In order to test for calcium carbonate, we numbered. a sample of five rocks.

Getting ready to test rocks for the presence of calcium carbonate.

To test for calcium carbonate, white vinegar was dropped on each of the rocks and a magnifying glass was used to observe for fizzing.  

Watching for a chemical reaction between calcium carbonate and white vinegar. 

Technology can be used to analyze and compare test results, and to further explore rocks and minerals.  Following this lab, students completed a Web Quest to review what they have learned about rocks and explore their own unique geological interests.  Here are some sites they visited:

• Geography 4 Kids

• Rockhound Kids

• Oxford University Museum of Natural History "The Learning Zone"

Students have been very interested in our study of rocks and minerals, so much so, that we have had several bring in rocks from their own collection to share with each other.

Abubakr shares a rock from his own collection with the class.