Stories In Stone: Teacher's Guide. Grades 4-9. LHS GEMS.

While rocks and minerals are often regarded as among the most static and solid objects, the body of knowledge of which they are part is always changing. This teachers guide contains activities and experiments designed to enhance students understanding of geology and petrology. By examining actual specimens of the Earth's crust, students learn about basic processes that have shaped and transformed the Earth over billions of years. Students' experiences with these real objects, rocks and minerals, combined with simulations of Earth processes, lead to deeper understandings and more abstract concepts such as how rocks form, rock cycles, and plate tectonics. Throughout the unit students find and collect interesting rocks and minerals, observe them with magnifying lenses, compare different samples, and make inferences about large classes of rocks. In addition, students conduct simulations and an experiment to find out more about how rocks and minerals are formed. Topics include: properties of rocks and minerals; distinguishing rocks from minerals; the shape of mineral crystals; formation of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks; recycling the Earth's crust; and classifying rocks and minerals. A list of resources, assessment suggestions, and literature connections are also included. (JRH)