Summer SAVY, Session 6 Day 3, “Earth Science Rocks!” (1st-2nd)
Hello, families!
It was another fun day in class! Today, we began to link rocks with erosion and soil. We finished our erosion experiments yesterday and sanded and filed various rocks, then predicted what would happen. The kids were amazed that the metal file worked on the rock. Interestingly, this class has led the kids to the conclusion that “matter cannot be destroyed,” and we even touched on physical and chemical changes in matter. The students made the observation that when I filed the rock, the rock lost very fine particles in order to become smooth on the edges.
After this, we completed another reasoning puzzle of sorts—Which One Doesn’t Belong. The students were divided into 4 groups, and I put 4 photos on the screen—of structures made of mud! The students had to describe why their assigned structure is different or “doesn’t belong” to the other 3. This is a fun reasoning exercise and also gets the kids to do some “close looking” at images and objects to notice differences and similarities. The students didn’t know that ALL the structures were made of mud until the end! They were amazed. I like to incorporate art and architecture into learning, so they learn to make connections.
Between lunch and ORA, we had 2 students bring in their personal rock collections and set up tables for the students to observe. They loved them! If anyone else wants to bring in their collections, please do!
One of our big tasks for the day was to analyze 4 soil samples. This involved magnifying glasses, safety glasses, and lots of touching sand, clay, gravel, and humus! Anything that involves dirt and magnifying glasses is a good time. This was simply to develop observation and descriptive skills, and most students made the connection that soil couldn’t exist without erosion.
Tomorrow we will do a BIG project on Machu Picchu and design terraces to stop erosion! Don’t tell them! It involves an exciting STEM project that they must design!
I am looking forward to tomorrow!
