Edible Rocks!

Ok-so we have to teach about the three kinds of rocks. Previously when I taught third grade, edible rocks were a hit. I will defintely do this again this year. You should give it a try too.

Metamorphic Rock Pancakes

OBJECTIVE: After this lesson the students will be able to identify the properties of a metamorphic rock.

MATERIALS: Griddle/electric skillet, spatula, oil, pancake batter, plates and napkins, walnuts, chocolate chips, marshmallows, raisins, etc. (We even use strawberries and blueberries too!)

ACTIVITY: Be sure to tell your kids that they will be eating rocks at the end of this unit!! After they have learned about how metamorphic rocks are made, examined several examples of metamorphic rocks, and talked about the rock cycle - I tell them that they won't want to miss this lesson because we will be making our own metamorphic rocks and eating them.
          Depending on the age, either the students or myself make the "rocks". Pour the pancake batter on the griddle and be sure to add some raisins, chocolate chips, walnuts, or marshmallows to the batter. By doing this, the children will get to see how heat is a factor in the metamorphic process. They will get to see how different "materials" melt or do not melt from the heat.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: After the demonstration, each child should have his/her own "rock" to eat. They should also be able to identify the metamorphic properties. To quiz them, a brief questionnaire type of paper can be passed out. Usually after this lesson, no one forgets how metamorphic rocks are made!


Here is are other quick easy ways to make sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks-- I found this from Betsy. She listed this in a post years ago at ProTeacher. I luckily hung on to it. Can not wait to use this for the upcoming school year.

1. Igneous Rock - melt chocolate chips in a crockpot, give each student a spoonful of the igneous rock on a sheet of wax paper and let cool (we let ours cool all day so it was completely hardened)

2. Sedimentary Rock - (completed in groups of four) press a tube of sugar cookie dough into an alluminum baking pan and layer with various toppings such as chocolate chips, different types of sprinkles, nuts, etc. (I had a parent donate the aluminum pans that come with a lid. This made it super easy to carry the pans home, bake, and return to school the next day.)

3. Metamorphic Rock - I gave each student a quarter of wheat bread and a quarter of white bread. They used rolling pins (pressure) and their hands (heat) to create the metaphoric rock. (I had peanut butter and jelly to eat with the "metamorphic rock" afterwards.)

The students made so many scientific connections during this investigation that I wish I had written down some of their comments. One group of students commented on how their metamorphic rock (bread) was crumbling around the edges and breaking apart. We connected this to nature and what causes rocks to break apart and travel through the rock cycle.

Check out
http://www.rockhounds.com/
http://www.rocksforkids.com/

Rain Forest, Rain Forest What Do You See?

     Rainforest Projects are completed and shared! The students did an AMAZING job! I am so proud of them. Here are a few:

Our culminating activities included sharing our research, acting out Jan Brett's, The Umbrella.
I used the masks on Jan Brett's website. (Side note-When we act out using "masks", I laminate and make necklaces for the students to wear instead OR attach the masks to paint stirrers that I get free from Home Depot.) We completed the L part of the KWL chart and was I impressed! I promised to make "Rain Forest" cookies (recipe found in the book, The Rainforest Grew All Around) this weekend for us to have on Monday. This will be another opportunity to discuss foods that come from the rain forest reinforcing the need to Save our Earth everyday-everywhere.

Non-Fiction vs.Fiction

    

Teaching real vs. make believe is one thing, and teaching non-fiction vs. fiction is definitely another.

This week we have been learning many things about the rain forest in fiction and non-fiction stories. Today, we are taking time to note the differences in a fiction passage/story and a non-fiction passage/story. The discussion also lended a lesson to those higher-order thinkers on realistic fiction. I found a cool non-fiction graphic organizer to help with creating a t-chart. We explored books from our unit reading shelf. Then, the students sorted the books from their book boxes. They shared the titles and told why they thought the book was fiction or non-fiction. Then, they completed a t-chart of their own with titles and features of fiction and non-fiction similar to the one we completed together (shown in picture above).

Today, I also read  (well sang with the help of my students as the song/story grew)The Rainforest Grew All Around. This was a perfect book to discuss realistic fiction.

Definitely excited about sharing our projects tomorrow. The students worked hard today and will complete tomorrow. Check back to see their great work!

Bromeliads!

Today we learned about plants in the rain forest. We discovered that the world's largest flower, the Giant Rafflesia, is also a gross smelling plant. For a short while, the students thought that sausage grew on trees because we read a portion about Sausage Trees. (Too funny!) Again, we sang "Layers of the Rainforest". We discussed the importance of the rain forest for oxygen, keeping the temperature tolerable, medicines, shelter, and products. We watched an awesome video, The Tropical Rain Forest Habitat.
We made bromeliads too. I made tracers for the bromeliad leaves and used cups to demonstrate the "pitcher" effect. I gave a "how to demo" on making the bromeliads, and the students went to work. We decided to add water, amphibians, and insects since these are found in most bromeliads. We used the scrap box to create these. Here are some student's bromeliads:

This week we are also learning the difference between fiction and non-fiction. We are reading 

We love The Magic Tree House series. Check out Mary Pope Osborne's website dedicated to the series.

Tomorrow-We will begin our research projects. I will share these on Friday.

Animals in the Rain Forest

Today we discussed animals in the rain forest. We watched a short clip from Discovery Education about entitled "Animals in the Rain Forest". It led us to discuss the vocabulary words-endangered and extinct.  We added animals to our 3-D rainforest from yesterday. Here are a few:

Later, we read Slowly, Slowly,Slowly" said the Sloth by Eric Carle. One of my students checked it out from the media center today and was super excited. We made a classbook Rain Forest, Rain Forest What Do You See? Each child drew an animal with the rain forest as a background. They did an excellent job!  Here are a few:

 Cock of the Rock

 Howler Monkey

 Anaconda

 Harpy Eagle

 Ocelot

 Anteater

 Sloth

 tarantula

 Sun Bear

Toucan

Tomorrow, we will learn about the plants of the rain forest.

Rain Forest Run

     This week we are learning about the rain forest. We started our study creating a KWL chart.
I just love it when the What We Want to Learn questions are exactly what is planned to teach. We discovered where rain forest are located using this cool activity: Using a world map, place a piece of black yarn across the equator. Then using blue yarn, stretch a piece of yarn across the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Explain that the world's rain forests lie on both sides of the equator and are bordered by two more imaginary lines. As children explore vooks and maps during the rain forest unit, encourage them to look at the classroom world map too and compare and contrast.

After exploring, the rain forest through books, pictures, and The Magic School Bus : In the Rainforest. (I If you do not own the video; and you have access to Discovery Education you can view from there too.), we learned a cute song I found this morning about the layers of the rain forest.



Click to here: Layers of the Rainforest
Sing to "If Your Happy and You Know It

Later, we created the Rainforest in 3D and discussed the various layers.

 I am very excited about this week's homework. The students have each been given a different rain forest animal and a couple of facts to get them started. They are to answer simple questions: Name, habitat, diet, and other interesting facts about the animal. They are encouraged to use other resources to help them with their research. Some internet sites that help might include:

Enchanted Learning
National Geographic
MongaBay for Kids
Rainforest Alliance

Seems like a lot for Day 1--I'M TIRED! Stay tuned for Day 2!

Heart Smart and Art

We learned ways to keep our heart healthy. We read two nonfiction books and had a discussion about , exercising, eating healthy, and the importance of rest. We also watched a movie starring Slim Goodbody using Discovery Education. The students also exercised. We discussed pulse points, clogged arteries, heart attacks, heart surgery, and the importance of playing outside to keep our hearts healthy. Then, we made these cute hearts and wrote ways to stay Heart Smart. In the midst of it all, there was a teaching moment using the inflection ending -ing.