| PEBBLES,
SAND, AND SILT MODULE MATRIX |
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SYNOPSIS |
SCIENCE
CONTENT |
THINKING
PROCESSES |
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1. |
FIRST
ROCKS
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Students
are introduced to the mineral portion of the planet on which
they live. They investigate several kinds of rocks and begin
to understand the properties of rocks. Students rub rocks, wash
rocks, sort rocks, and describe rocks. They also begin to organize
a class rock collection. |
•
Rocks have a variety of properties including color, hardness,
shape, and size.
• Rocks can be sorted by their properties.
• Rocks are all around us.
• Rocks are the solid material of the earth. |
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Observe several kinds of rocks.
• Compare properties of different rocks.
• Sort rocks in different ways.
• Observe rocks interacting with each other and with water. |
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2. |
RIVER
ROCKS |
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Students
investigate a river rock mixture of earth materials of different
sizes. They separate the rocks, using a series of three screens
to identify five sizes of rocks: large pebbles, small pebbles,
large gravel, small gravel, and sand. They add water to a vial
of sand to discover silt and clay. |
•
Rocks can be categorized by size.
• Screens and water can be used to sort the sizes of earth
materials.
• Five sizes of rocks, from smallest to largest are clay,
silt, sand, gravel, and pebbles. |
•
Observe properties of pebbles, gravel, sand, silt, and clay
particles.
• Separate and group river rocks based on particle size
by using screens.
• Separate and observe sand and silt in water.
• Observe the properties of clay particles when dry and
when wet. |
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3. |
USING
ROCKS |
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Students
learn how people use earth materials to construct objects. They
make rubbings from sandpaper, sculptures from sand, decorative
jewelry from clay, and bricks from clay soil. They go on a schoolyard
field trip to look for places where earth materials occur naturally
and where people have incorporated earth materials into building
materials. |
•
Earth materials are natural resources.
• The properties of different earth materials make each
suitable for specific uses.
• Earth materials can be used in a variety of constructions. |
•
Observe and compare different grades of sandpaper.
• Observe how a matrix binds sand particles in a sand
sculpture.
• Observe the properties of clay that make it useful in
creating jewelry or beads.
• Observe and compare how earth materials are used in
human constructions.
• Observe how the properties of clay are used to make
bricks. |
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4. |
SOIL
EXPLORATIONS |
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Students
put together and take apart soils. They are introduced to humus
as an ingredient in soil. Homemade and local soils are compared,
using techniques introduced in Investigation 2. |
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Soil is a mixture of earth materials.
• Soils vary from place to place.
• Soils have properties of color and texture.
• Soils differ in their abilities to support plants.
• Soils can be composed of humus and different amounts
and sizes of rocks. |
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Observe the ingredients that combine to make soil.
• Separate and sort the ingredients in soil.
• Observe and record the results of shaking soil and water
in a vial.
• Compare soil samples from different locations. |
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