Geology overview

The thread that ties this unit together for the students is My Pet Rock.  In this recursive activity, students initially bring a rock that interests them in some way.  By the end of the unit, their culminating challenge is to write a geologic biography of their rock, incorporating what they have learned in their study of geology.

In Rocks and Minerals students learn the nature of rocks and minerals, how to identify minerals, and how to determine to the best of their ability where a rock sample might fit in the rock cycle. Earth’s Structure is an inquiry into the physical structure of the earth, including the interior and crustal plates. Students examine the active forces of the rock cycle and the materials produced in Earth Processes and are challenged to “read the landscape” while learning to use cross section mapping. In Mapping Volcanoes and Earthquakes students use their mapping skills to determine the relationship between plate boundaries and earthquakes and volcanoes.  The Shifting Globe challenges them to position land masses on the globe in the present, at the time of Pangaea and predict where they may be in the future based on current crustal movement. Waves explores the nature of waves and their relationship to our knowledge of the earth’s interior.

• My Pet Rock

• Rocks and Minerals

• Earth’s Structure

• Earth Processes

• Mapping Volcanoes and Earthquakes

• Shifting Globe

• Waves