Driving Question: How can we, as geologists, learn about the creation of rocks so that we can invent our own?

We have completed our awesome Rock and Mineral Project!  We have our Rockin' Museum all ready for visitors to take a tour.  In our museum you will see our rock models, a description card of what kind of rock and a write up of our rock model process and a write up of what happens in nature. I had a conference with each student about their writing and the entire project process and what they learned.  I am very impressed with these young geologists!  We will leave our museum up through December so that everyone has a chance to visit.  We will begin a new project or a least the brainstorming process right after Thanksgiving Break.  I am excited to see what subject we explore next. 

We used all the bits of “rock” and “sediment” from our weathering and erosion lab last week to create igneous rocks using heat and cooling.  The crayon rocks were amazing!  Shine, bubbles, various degrees of melting resulted from a variety of heating and cooling methods.  These results mimic the characteristics of igneous rocks found around the world. 

We were inspired to design and build our own rock models to help show important properties of rocks and minerals.  After exploring igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks, we are excited to create models that demonstrate their important traits and how they are made.  We are using clay, salt, alum, tissue paper, plaster and much more to create our amazing models!  Stay tuned for our final products next week.  We will be using our writing skills to explain our process of creating the models and what they show about geology.

This project has been a great opportunity for us to share our favorite rocks or curious finds with each other!  We are rock hounds!

We revisited our project question this week to discuss what the final outcome of our project would be.  After learning about the amazingly powerful forces that create and change rocks, we decided that instead of inventing new rocks, we will create models of amazing rocks to bring our imagination to life.  Our models will be based on true geologic processes we have learned about this fall. Our “rock collection”, with accompanying documentation, will act as a great teaching tool for elementary science.  We have a field trip planned for next week, weather permitting.

To reinforce our knowledge of the rock cycle, we decided to break down crayon “rocks” through our own classroom versions of weathering and erosion.  Next week, we will use these small rocks and sediments to build new igneous and metamorphic rocks by experimenting with available sources of heat. 

We were able to answer some of our lingering questions about volcanoes and igneous rocks by Skyping with a geologist based in California who does field work on Mt. St. Helens and in Yellowstone.

It's crystal clear....we LOVE our project!  This week, we delved deeper into how various rocks are created by exploring the process of crystallization.  We are learning about the various kinds of igneous rocks and how various conditions can create so many different results.  Our group is very curious about the formation of clear, faceted crystals.  What better way to understand how crystals are made then to make them ourselves?  We used Alum, a mineral found in any spice isle to create a hot solution.  Upon cooling, our beautiful crystals began to emerge!  Next week, we will explore igneous rocks created through volcanic eruptions.  

All of these experiences will help the Mustangs to choose a new kind of rock to model for their project.  After understanding important geologic processes, we will be ready to "invent" our own rocks, creating models based on the science of the rock cycle!

In order to better understand the creation of rocks, we decided to investigate our own backyard: The Teton Mountains and Teton Valley.  A trip up to Grand Targhee and Teton Canyon led to some amazing discoveries.  We were guided by our favorite local geology expert Jack Bouma.

Everyone has been bringing in their favorite rock treasures, which has really tapped into everyone’s curiousity! As a class, we settled on a question to guide us through our project:

How can we, as geologists, study the creation of rocks so that we can invent NEW rocks or crystals?

We spent this week thinking about what a geologist does, what tools he or she uses, and how they ask questions.  A local expert on Geology, Jack Bouma, came into the classroom to help us out.  He brought important "tools of the trade".  We learned that the most important tool that a geologist has is his or her BRAIN!  We learned a few new important geologic terms.  We learned how to use patterns in rock to determine whether a rock is "igneous" or from cooled magma or lava. Through modelling and kinesthetic motions, we explored the creation of "sedimentary" rocks and "metamorphic" rocks.  Next week, we will continue to study these different types of rocks and how they are created.

This was a great week for our project!  We explored a great collection of rock samples at school, making oberservations and adding questions and wonders to our "K/W/L" charts.  We also took a  field trip to the Rock Shop in Driggs to explore a wide array of rocks.  After reading a couple of creation stories about rocks and rock formations, the Mustangs were challenged to create a creation story about a rock that inspired them.  We were able to narrow the focus of our project topic by thinking first about what ROLE we want to step into during the course of our project.  We discussed the pros and cons of different jobs that work with rocks, minerals and gems in some way:

Geologist

Author

Teacher

Inventor

We decided that we were most excited to take on the role of GEOLOGIST as we work on our project.  We are excited to be geologists because they "make discoveries", have a "cool job" and go to "cool places" and think like scientists.  They also get to write like authors after they make discoveries.  We are still narrowing down what our guiding question will be.  We all brainstormed ideas and many of them center on the characteristics and behavior of different rocks.  Here are just a handful of the questions we want to investigate:

Why are some rocks flat and other bumpy?

Where do the patterns in rocks come from?

Why are precious gems found in some places bit not others?

Why are some quartz rocks clear and others have colors?

Next week, we will try to meet with a real Geologist so that we can better understand how to think and act like a Geologist during our project!

Our journey towards deciding a project topic has taken a major turn! 

Initially, many of us were excited about studying animals.  We had a very thoughtful discussion about what we could discover about animals.  A few students expressed concerns that in studying and learning about animals, we might rely too much on books.  We were very focused on animals facts.  We decided to open up the conversation and discuss what we were really EXCITED about. 

In the amazing brainstorm that ensued, the mention of gems and minerals brought CHEERS of enthusiasm.  We are really excited to explore gems and minerals!! On Thursday, we discussed how there is a lot to understanding rocks, minerals and gems.  In order to focus in on what guiding question would be best for our project, each student began a "K/W/L" chart.  These charts allow each student to log what they already KNOW, what they WANT to know, and what they have LEARNED about a particular topic.  Amazing questions have begun to emerge, such as: "How do we know where to find certain gems or minerals?"

This week, we did a lot of work to lay the foundation for an amazing project. We mapped our school yard and picked out the most important spots to help us have a conversation about what we want to study further.  It gave us great practice in working with partners, documenting what we see and explaining our thoughts to others.  It is also great practice for us to orient ourselves in a place before reaching out for a project topic.

We took our first field trip of the year on Wednesday!  After reading about the adventures of Sam Beaver in The Trumpet of the Swan, we decided to practice our own naturalist skills in the nearby National Forest. We created fun scavenger hunts for each other.  This helped us notice and document amazing things such as lichen, tracks, scat, bark scratches and markings....and so much more!  We also created a sound map while sitting silently in the woods.  It is amazing how many new creatures we dicovered by listening carefully.

On Friday, we discussed our week and sat down to brainstorm.  Each student completed the question "I wonder...".  We got some great responses!  We mapped these on the board and drew connections between various topics while narrowly some broad questions down.  We ended our conversation wondering about the various ways animals communicate with each other and with us.  Check back next week to see what our final guiding question will be!

Once we get a project rolling, we will have weekly updates for you to read!