Geology Rocks! - Activities

What is Geoheritage?

Geoheritage combines two words, geology and heritage.
Geology is the study of the rocks on earth and in the universe and how they change over time.
Heritage can be objects of value. In this case, the object of value is the geology of a place, the Keweenaw Peninsula.
In this lesson we'll explore the rock cycle and its different stages. This will help us understand how rocks form and change over time.

Why is the Keweenaw's geoheritage important?

1. Some of the largest, oldest lava flows in the world are on the Keweenaw Peninsula. They help us understand how this region formed over millions of years. These lava flows also contained copper.
2. People have been mining copper for thousands of years here. In the 1800s people started calling the Keweenaw Peninsula, the Copper Country.
3. Geoheritage helps us understand how the landscape and geology influence our lives everyday.

Watch the video below to learn about the rock cycle and answer the questions after!

 

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  Intro Video for Keweenaw Geoheritage

  Intro Video for Keweenaw Geoheritage

  Duration:

  3 minutes, 2 seconds

 

Video Questions

What are the three main types of rocks?

What forces change the rock types?

Where do the different rocks form?

How can you tell a sedimentary rock apart from other rocks?

 

The rock cycle connects the three main rock types Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic. Different forces change the rocks over time.

NPS

 

Deep Time

How old is the Earth?

 

Answer

Geologists tell us the Earth is 4.5 billion years old 

How do you write 4.5 billion with just numbers?

 

Activity 1

Depth of Time Activity:

Activity Objectives: Use your wingspan to help you measure deep time. Deep time helps us think about how long the rock cycle takes.

1. Stand up and stretch out your arms out so you make a T-shape. From finger tip on your left hand to finger tip on your right your arm is now the whole length of time since Earth was created 4.5 billion years.
2. The distance from the fingertips to elbow is 1 billion years.
3. One million years ago to now is represented by just the white part at the very tip of the fingernail.
4. A tiny speck of dust on the tip of the fingernail is the last 1,000 years.
5. Humans have been around for around 4 million years, which is not even half of the length of a fingernail.
6. Rocks have been around for the length of your wingspan!

 

Activity 2:

Rock Cycle Comic

Activity objectives: Tell the story of the rock cycle through deep time.

 

Activity 3

Fill in the Blank Rock Cycle:

Activity Objective: Learn the rock cycle and the way different types of rocks are formed. Uses the visual spatial and interpersonal intelligences.

1. Find a partner
2. Make sure you have the rock cycle sheet (page 2 & 3 of the rock cycle activity pdf), scissors and glue sticks
3. Cut out the words that describe the rock cycle
4. Working with your partner, fill in the blanks and glue the correct answers in.

 

Alternative Activities

 

Rock Cycle Freeze and Melt Tag

Instructions:

1. Your teacher will assign you a role. You will be a cooling tagger, a heating tagger, or lava.

• If you are a cooling tagger, you want to harden moving lava to freeze it in place. You can do this by tagging a moving lava student.

• If you are a heating tagger, you want to melt hardened lava and make it flow again. You can do this by tagging a hardened lava student.

• Lava will harden when it’s tagged by a cooling tagger and melt when it’s tagged by a heating tagger.

2. To start the game, lava students will run around freely.

3. Cooling students will chase the lava students and tag them. If you are a lava student and are tagged by a cooling tagger, you are turned into rock and need to freeze in place.

4. Heating students will run around the space and tag frozen students. If you are a hardened lava student and are tagged by a heating tagger, you are melted back into lava and can continue running around.

5. If all of the lava students are turned into rock, the game ends. If there is enough time, your teacher may switch your roles.

6. After the game, think about these questions:

• Why did lava students have to freeze when they were tagged by a cooling tagger? What does the cool temperature do to the lava?

• Why were the lava students able to move again after being tagged by a heating tagger? What does the hot temperature do to the rock?

• Does this help you understand parts of the rock cycle?

• Which of the three kinds of rock does the the hardened lava turn into? Sedimentary, Igneous, or Metamorphic?

 

Copper TRACES Students

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