In our unit on Rocks and Minerals this term, we’ll be learning lots of important concepts about materials that make up the Earth’s crust:
- Compare samples of various kinds of rock, and identify similarities and differences.
- Given a description of the properties of a particular rock or mineral, identify a sample rock or mineral that matches those properties. Properties that students should be able to describe and interpret include:
- colour
- lustre or “shininess”; e.g., shiny, dull,
- glassy, metallic, earthy
- texture; e.g., rough, smooth, uneven
- hardness, based on scratch tests with
- available materials
- presence of carbonates.
- Describe and classify a group of rocks and minerals, based upon the above properties.
- Recognize that rocks are composed of a variety of materials; and given a coarse-grained rock and magnifier, describe some of the component materials.
- Recognize and describe the various components within a sample of soil; e.g., clay, sand, pebbles, decaying plants; and describe differences between two different soil samples.
- Describe ways in which rocks break down to become soil, and demonstrate one or more of these ways; e.g., by shaking a group of small, soft rocks in a jar of water; by striking rocks together.
- Describe some common uses of rocks and minerals; and identify examples of those uses within the school, home or local community.
Students are welcome to bring interesting rocks or minerals from home to share with the class during our science class. They've already bringing some in to share, and there have some very cool specimens so far!