Rocks & Minerals Unit: Lesson 5: Intro to Rocks

To bridge the gap between rocks and minerals, students zoom back and explore the earth as a whole. By looking at the Earth's layers and the basics of plate tectonics first, students can then delve into the rock cycle while keeping the larger scope in mind.

Students will read and listen to rock cycle raps, analyze diagrams, play with interactives, fill out graphic organizers, and come to understand the basic mechanics of the rock cycle, as well as identifying the major types of rocks within. Before digging into each rock's process, it is important that students understand the larger scale first.

Vocabulary: rock, mineral, sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic, rock cycle, erosion, deposition, cementation, compaction, weathering, heat, pressure, tectonic plate, mantle, core, lithosphere, asthenosphere, inner core, outer core, magnetic field, volcano, earthquake

Objectives
-- I will explain the relationship between minerals and rocks.
-- I will describe and illustrate ways in which a rock can change over time.
-- I will identify the three major types of rock.
-- I will explain how the layers of the earth and plate tectonics are relevant to rock creation, the shape and location of our continents, and formation of earthquakes and volcanoes.

Agenda/Contents
Warm Up: Pre-assessment of Earth's Layers & Plate Tectonics
Objective/Agenda
Jigsaw/Mini-Lessons: Earth's Layers overview & interactives
Earth's Layers Graphic Organizer & Key
Plate Tectonics Causes & Effects overview & interactives
Plate Tectonics Graphic Organizer & Key
If you finish…. Volcanoes & Earthquakes overview/interactives
Minerals & Rocks: Hypothesizing their Relationships
Class Hypotheses
Minerals and Rocks- The relationships revealed!
Setting up Science Notebooks for Visual Literacy & Rock Cycle
Observe-Predict-Wonder Directions
Conversation Starters: How to talk about what you observe
Analyze, observe, discuss, record & switch!
Word shake: Common vocabulary? Processes? Group?
Demo: Rice cereal treat & the Rock Cycle
Big Ideas: How does each rock type form?
3 big ideas; What is important in the rock cycle rap?
Miss J's Rock Cycle Rap: Illustrate & Explain
Coming full circle:
How does the rock cycle connect to plate tectonics?
Plate tectonics interactive: What is happening?
Big idea: What if there was no more convection on earth?
Homework: Write your own rap
Ticket out the door

This lesson will probably take at least two 90-minute blocks.