Download Grade 4 Lesson: 1-2 All Sorts of Rocks Reference to English

Grade 4
Standard(s): 1.OA.1
Lesson: 1-2
All Sorts of Rocks
Reference to English
Domain:
Content Objective(s):
Language Objective(s):
Sort rocks by appearance according to the three basic
types: sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic
Classify common rocks found in Utah as sedimentary,
igneous, and metamorphic.
Essential Understanding:
Academic Vocabulary for Word Wall:
Listen:
Read:
Write:
Speak:
Materials:
Additional Lesson Vocabulary:
 “My Rocks and Soil Book” (1 per student)
Sentence Frames:
 Magic Shell ice cream topping
 Cups of ice water
 Bread
 Sandwich fixings like: peanut butter & jelly or meat,
lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, etc.
 Ziploc Bag
 Saltwater Taffy
 Igneous Rocks (obsidian, basalt, granite, pumice)
 Sedimentary Rocks (sandstone, shale, conglomerate,
limestone)
 Metamorphic Rocks (marble, schist, slate, gneiss)
 Hand lens (1 per student)

Lesson: All Sorts of Rocks
Instructional Time:
Opening: (10 minutes)
 Each rock has a “story” of how it was born or formed.
 Show students a piece of granite.
 The life story of a piece of granite might be something like this:
“I started life as a very hot liquid. Slowly I rose toward Earth’s surface and started to cool. As I cooled, minerals I
was made of started to ‘find’ each other and form crystals. I started to look speckled and very pretty. I cooled completely
and rose a little higher in Earth’s crust. Soon, rain, water, and even a glacier scraped off the rock on top of me. I was
exposed to the light for the first time. Then I was brought here to your classroom for you to study.”
Introduction to New Material (Direct Instruction): (7 minutes)
T: How do you make a rock? How do you get the mineral pieces to stick together?
T: There are three basic types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Let’s look at the life story of each one.
Igneous Rocks:
T: What happens when something gets really hot? (it melts)
T: When rock gets really hot, it melts too. Melted rock is called magma. It is found deep down inside the earth near the
middle where the temperatures are very hot.
T: Today we are going to use melted chocolate to represent magma.
 Give each student a cup of ice water and squirt a little magic shell ice cream topping into the cup.
 Have the students watch as the chocolate hardens.
T: This is what happens to magma. When it is below the earth’s surface, it remains hot and liquid. When it comes up
through volcanoes or cracks in the Earth’s surface, it cools and hardens to become igneous rock.
 Have the students color and illustrate the igneous rock portion of the “How Rocks are Made” chart in their “My Rocks
and Soil Book.”
 Have the students write a definition of an igneous rock in their “My Rocks and Soil Book.”
 Once they are cooled and hardened, have the students eat their “chocolate rocks.”
Sedimentary:
T: Are all rocks the same size? No, some are very large (boulders) while others are just tiny (grains of sand).
T: One way we can make rocks is by taking many smaller rocks and pressing them together in layers. These are called
sedimentary rocks.
T: The layers of rock remind me of a sandwich.
 Make a sandwich to show the students the layers. You can either alternate peanut butter and jelly (maybe even add
in some chocolate chips or marshmallows) or layer meat, lettuce, tomato, cheese, mayonnaise, etc. 
 Explain to students that sedimentary rocks are made of layers, but even though the sandwich is in layers, it can easily
fall or be pulled apart (demonstrate by easily removing the bread.) Rocks are the same way. If we just pile rocks
together on top of each other, they will also just fall apart (demonstrate this by stacking a few of the rocks from your
class collection to show how easily they separate.) We need something more - pressure!
T: Place your sandwich in a Ziploc bag and pile several heavy books, such as dictionaries or encyclopedias, on top. Now
our layers are under pressure. We also need to give our layers time.
 Wait a day or two and remove your sandwich from beneath the books. Demonstrate to students that it is now much
more difficult to pull apart the layers of the sandwich than before we added pressure.
T: Real rocks are formed when the layers are placed under extreme pressure for a long time.
 Have the students color and illustrate the sedimentary rock portion of the “How Rocks are Made” chart in their “My
Rocks and Soil Book.”
 Have the students write a definition of an sedimentary rock in their “My Rocks and Soil Book.”
 Make a few more sandwiches and cut into smaller pieces (fourths) and have the students enjoy a sedimentary rock
snack.
Metamorphic:
T: Igneous rocks are made from extreme heat. Sedimentary rocks are made from extreme pressure. When we add both
heat and pressure, we get metamorphic rocks.
 Give each student 2-3 pieces of taffy. Have them work with the taffy as if it were clay or play dough.
T: Their hands are warmer than the taffy. This is adding heat.
T: They are applying pressure to the taffy by molding and mixing it.
T: As they work with the taffy, the 2-3 separate pieces are becoming one large piece.
T: The extreme heat and pressure on earth also changes igneous and sedimentary rocks into metamorphic rocks.
 Have the students color and illustrate the metamorphic rock portion of the “How Rocks are Made” chart in their “My
Rocks and Soil Book.”
 Have the students write a definition of an metamorphic rock in their “My Rocks and Soil Book.”
 Have the students enjoy eating their taffy metamorphic rock once it is completely mixed.
Guided Practice: (10 minutes)
 Give each group of students a kit containing 2 igneous, 2 sedimentary, and 2 metamorphic rocks and a hand lens.
 First, give them time to observe and study the rocks. What do they see? What colors? How big? Can they see the
minerals? Is the rock spotted or striped? How does it feel - rough or smooth? Is it shiny or dull?
 Next, have the students use what they have observed to divide their rocks into three categories: igneous,
sedimentary, and metamorphic. (Note: Check the sorts together to ensure everyone has correctly identified the type
of rocks.)
 Next, have the students look at each specific group of rocks. What do they look like? How do they feel? What colors
are they? What do they have in common? Can they see evidence of how the rock was formed?
 Have the students write a description of each type of rock in their “My Rocks and Soil Book.”
 Examples:
Igneous: with or without observable crystals that are not in layers; with or without air holes; glassy
Sedimentary: rounded-appearing mineral and rock particles that are cemented together; often in layers; dull; light
colored; light weight
Metamorphic: crystals/minerals; often in thick layers; blended colors; tightly compacted, blurred particles, shiny
Independent Practice: (6 minutes)
 Divide students into groups and give them a collection of common Utah rocks and a set of “What’s This Rock Cards.”
 Have them use the pictures and descriptions on the cards to identify each rock in their collection.
 Share and compare answers as a class.
Closing: (4 minutes)
T: Now that all of the Utah rocks have been identified, sort them into groups of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.
 Share and compare answers as a class.
 Have the students list the Utah rocks in the correct category in their “My Rocks and Soil Book.”
 Examples:
Igneous Rocks: obsidian, basalt, granite, pumice
Sedimentary Rocks: sandstone, shale, conglomerate, limestone
Metamorphic Rocks: marble, schist, slate, gneiss