Enrichment Ideas for Earth
Materials
Expand the boundaries of your kit study. Encourage your
students' curiosity with these outlets for extending
engagement in research.
soil
activities | rock and mineral
activities | cool rock places | walks/field trips
Soil Activities
Soil Recipe
This EPA site offers a
creative hands-on activity that help grade K-3 students
recognize soil's components, understand why it's important,
and learn how long it takes for topsoil to be created.
Soil Characterization Protocols
Not suggested here as a
series of activities for your students, but
rather as a reference to the teacher who wants to know more
about the field
techniques of a soil scientist that are touched on in the
kits. This site
offers detailed discussions of the tools a geologist uses to
collect/describe a sample, techniques for exposing soil in
its original
location, and more tests for specific characteristics than
you will EVER
want to use with students, but does offer a bit more
explanation,
enrichment and inspiration to support your
investigations.
Composting in Schools
This site from Cornell
University offers teachers and students loads of information
about everything that you could imagine related to
composting.
How to Make Compost
Offered by an organization promoting organic practices, this site explains how to make compost from household waste in order to reduce pollution and help plants grow. There are plenty of details about what can and cannot be composted, as well as information on step-by-step instructions and an FAQ area.
On Sandy Shores (an LHS GEMS Teacher's Guide)
Created by the Lawrence Hall
of Science, this unit is recommend it for grades 2-4,
although it can be adapted to be more sophisticated. While
GEMS guides may not represent the full scope of coverage
that you may
want at your grade, many are useful resources
for extending investigations. "On Sandy Shores" is an
exceptionally well
designed and substantial unit that encourages inquiry into
earth
materials, sand, and familiarity with the beach environment.
The activities involve close observation of physical
properties, consideration of the nature of evidence and what
clues a sand grain offers about its origins, what (and who)
else is found on
beaches, and the ecological interactions and clean-up
processes involved in
oil spills.
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Rock and Mineral Activities
The Essential Guide to Rocks
BBC Education offers easy
extension activities that illustrate some of the concepts
from the rock cycle.
Earth Science Lesson Activities
The Society of Sedimentary
Geologists maintains this list of lesson activities prepared
by science educators. The grade level appropriateness of the
activities (ranging from lower elementary to high school) is
indicated.
State Mineral Statistics
State minerals statistics
and information from the USGS. Very dry, but it is
interesting to see which states produce which minerals for
profit. Take a look to see what Pennsylvania produces.
Mineral Resources for Teachers
A rich gold mine (yes, pun
intended) of extension ideas related to minerals: where they
come from, how they are mined, and their myriad
uses. Look especially at "Activities," "Games," "Operation
Respect,"
and "Mineral Education Links."
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Cool Rock Places
National Caves Association
This site includes links to
caves all over the country, with great images of the rock
formations unique to caves.
Exploring Caves
This K-3 resource from the
USGS explains the different types of caves and how they're
formed. See the site above for better photos of real caves,
but this site has good info phrased in kid-friendly
language.
Mystic Places: Stonehenge and Easter Island
This site offers images and
detailed articles about two of the greatest rock-related
mysteries in the world—Stonehenge and Easter
Island.
The Geology of the Bathroom
This page from the BBC offers
a very British look at some of the uses of rocks in a home,
and is a light-hearted, informative read. Some of the uses
may surprise you, and they're only the tip of the
iceberg!
A Geologist's Lifetime Field List
Very nice and well organized
archive of links to information, travelogues, and pictures
of many classical examples of the world's geological wonders
(and some other interesting natural phenomena). See earth
materials on a grand scale; in their native locales and in
some of their
most spectacular forms.
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Walks/Field Trips
Graveyard Rockwalk
On this page, take a look at
the sixth option, the Graveyard Rockwalk. It is an
excellent example of using (respectfully!) a cemetery as a
geologicmuseum on your own doorstep. The narrator of this
virtual tour includes
tips on recognizing igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic
rock headstones
and encourages using the dates on the monuments as
indicators of how the
rocks erode over time.
Ten Rockwalks
Ten examples of walks people
have put together to see earth materials as they are used as
building stones. Unfortunately, these are all in Great
Britain so many of us will not be able to follow any but the
pictorial trail, but it's a
great source of inspiration and ideas to be used when
designing one of your
own. Check out the third walk (cemetery walk) especially as
an idea
possible anywhere.
Urban Rocks
Pointers (and recommended
published resources) to help you design your own urban field
trip. Help your students observe, recognize, and appreciate
the stone used for building roads, buildings, bridges and
monuments in local
schoolyard and downtown areas.
Beach Geology
Journal page from a
University of Kentucky geology class beach trip. The point
here is not really to learn the fine points about coastal
bedforms, but (especially from the third picture on) to see
how scientists (or you and your class on a trip to the beach
could) dig trenches to see the history of the beach over
time. Such cross-sections are equally useful for looking at
how soil changes with depth ("horizons").
Guest
Speakers and Field Trips
This listing features lots of innovative suggestions for
possible classroom guests and easy, local field trips.
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