Before: Processes and Physical Properties

Before-visit activities use modeling and language arts to develop student familiarity with geologic processes, properties, and observation skills.

Modeling Rock Cycle with Crayons

Modeling Rock Cycle with Chocolate

Everybody Needs a Rock

During: Field Investigations 

During your field investigation at Blandy, your students will engage in several indoor and outdoor lessons where they explore geology concepts as field and laboratory geologists, landscape historians.

Below is an overview of the “standard” program activities to assist you with integrating this field experience into the classroom experiences. This will change due to weather, the volume of students, or communication with environmental educators. Click here for a sample schedule (will vary depending on the number of classes).

VA Standards Addressed: Science (2018) 5.1, 5.8. Math (2016) 5.5b, 5.8a, 5.9b. Social Studies (2015) VS.2, USI.2d

• Field or Laboratory Rock Identification: In small research groups, students, as field geologists, identify the native rock at Lake Georgette and compare its properties to other rocks in their kit. If the weather is prohibitive, students as laboratory geologists identify and compare the properties of up to eleven rock samples in one of our indoor spaces. They communicate their findings and use evidence and reasoning to support their conclusions.
• Rock Density Experiment: Research geologists describe rock samples then calculate the volume of rock samples using displacement, measure the sample's mass, and calculate the density of that rock type. They use this qualitative and quantitative information to identify their sample, compare it to the lab’s research collection, and use a geologic map to identify in which Virginia geographic region it can be found.
• Geologic History of Blandy:  As landscape historians, students learn to read Blandy’s geologic history by examining its native rock and rocks imported to the grounds for human use. This examination uncovers ancient and ongoing geologic processes including tectonic plate collision and the resulting orogeny/subduction, as well as chemical and physical weathering.
• Rock Cycle Game- Students engage in a kinesthetic cycle game to model the geologic processes such as weathering, erosion, and plate tectonics and how these factors affect the ever-changing earth.

After: Humans and Geology

With the after-visit activities, students synthesize data and concepts learned /gathered in the field and connect Virginia geologic resources with human history.  

I am a Changed Rock

Virginia Rocks then and Now

Literacy

A Rock is Lively  Non-fiction        

• Rock and mineral collections – over a period of time, assemble at least 3 unique rocks or minerals – one must be shaped or used by people.
• In class, find the volume and mass of your rocks, describe its characteristics and possible use. Predict – is each one igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic, or a mineral?
• Expert help – contact your local soil and water conservation district to have an expert come in to help you identify the rocks and try to figure out where they came from. Make a map of the students’ rocks.
• Additional ideas can be found in the Chronicle Books teacher guide for A Rock is Lively. (PDF)

Everybody Needs a Rock Fiction 

• "How We Use Rocks" Lesson Plan (Utah Education Network) - investigating the physical properties of rocks (PDF)
• "Sampling Rocks" Lesson Plan (ScienceNetLinks) - sampling methods and classification (PDF)