Pre-Trip Activity: Rock Collecting and Sorting
Grade Levels: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Objective
How well do you know your rocks? This is an easy introduction for your students that will hone
their observation skills on the rocks in their neighborhood.
Materials Needed:



paper bags or baggies
large butcher paper for word web and magic markers
yarn
Activity Description:
Have students collect rocks for this discovery activity. Here are some suggested ideas for
collecting a variety of rocks:
1. Give each student a paper bag or a baggie and have them investigate
what rocks are close to school. Have them choose three rocks for this
hands-on activity.
2. If you don't have a collection of rocks close to your school or are unable
to collect rocks around your school, you can tell students to bring in three
rocks from home for homework. Tell them to try to find different kinds of
rocks. The wider variety your children bring in, the better this activity will
be!
Now that your class has a rock collection, have your students brainstorm
on what they know about rocks. Do this by seating your students in a
large circle and placing the rocks that they have collected in the middle of
the circle. Ask your students what they already know about rocks and
organize their information on a large sheet of butcher paper by creating a
word web of facts. Ask them the following questions and record:
Are all of the rocks the same colors?
Do all rocks have the same texture?
Are all rocks the same size?
Can you name something in our school that is made from rock? How
about something in our city?
5. How do you think rocks are made?
1.
2.
3.
4.
After recording what the students already know, explain that the earth's crust is made of rock.
Explain to the students that the earth is like a caramel covered apple. The soil is the caramel, the
skin of the apple is the crust, the fleshy part of the apple is the mantel, and the core of the apple
is the earth's core.
As soil accumulates over the years, the older soil is pushed farther and farther down. Eventually,
the soil turns into sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rocks keep getting pushed further and further
down. In fact, the deeper you dig into the earth, the hotter it gets underground. So as the
sedimentary rock is pushed farther and farther underground, there is a lot of pressure and heat
added to the rock. Eventually, sedimentary rock will "morph" into another kind of rock called
metamorphic.
There is one other kind of rock found on earth and it is called fire rock, which scientist say is
igneous. What do you think makes fire rocks? Deep under the earth, it is so hot, that rocks have
melted! This melted rock is called magma. Sometimes the pressure is so tremendous under the
earth, that the magma will begin to push up through the earth's crust and a volcano is created.
When enough pressure is made in the volcano, the magma will erupt from the volcano and lava
will begin pouring out of it. As the lava cools, igneous rocks are formed. Scoria and pumice are
two rocks that are created from cooled lava.
Have the children work in groups of two to four. Each child takes the rocks that they brought for
this activity and a length of yarn. As a group, have the children sort and classify rocks by taking
the length of yarn and creating a circle. Children will discuss, as a group, how the rocks are
similar and different and place the rocks inside of the circle of yarn that are the same.