Volcanos and Igneous Rocks Pop-Up Books

When I was taught earth science when I was a child, I was just given three lists of rocks according to their category and only the most basic information about how the groups were formed. When it came to igneous rocks, I was only told that they were formed by a volcano, but I wasn't given any information about what made one rock different from another, so of course I forgot this information. I wanted to give my children more. I found out some wonderful detailed information from The Amateur Geologist by Raymond Wiggers, but I wanted to present this information in a visual way. So, I decided to help them make pop-up volcano books. To make these, you first need to have them draw/color a volcano. I just copied one I found in a book to have them color. These labeled the parts of a volcano. Next make the booklet. Take a regular piece of cardstock and fold it in half and then in half again, making a little book like a card. Unfold the piece of cardstock. The volcano gets glued, centered on the fold on the bottom half of the cardstock. Leave about a half-inch or so from the bottom. When you refold the card, notice where the volcano outline falls and cut out the volcano shape, leaving about a half-inch on the bottom of either side in tact. You should be able to pull this layer out, refolding in the opposite direction, to get a pop-out mountain.

Have them decorate this layer as a mountain or volcano scene. Have them draw two rocks in their scene -one on the volcano or near the base and one as far from the volcano as you can on the ground. Have them also draw a rock inside the volcano. You can have them label the rocks while you tell them about how they are formed.

If the rock is formed far below the surface, it becomes granite and the Obsidian formed above ground near the volcano's vent. The Basalt Lava originated in a surface flow some distance from the volcano. We also looked at these rocks and after our discussions, they could put them in the correct places.

Experimenting with Craters on the Moon

Answering the question as to why the moon has so many craters, we talked about how the earth's atmosphere burns up many meteors that would otherwise hit the earth, but that the moon doesn't have such atmosphere. We talked about the light that comes from a shooting star and how it is the atmosphere rubbing against the meteor that makes the energy in the form of light. To determine why the craters on the moon differ in size, we did two experiments. The first was to see how the size of the rock would affect the size of the crater. We took a large bowl of flour and smoothed its surface by shaking the bowl gently back and forth. Then we used a spot on a nearby post to determine the height at which they would drop their rocks. In this way we eliminated a variance of speed affecting our results. As expected, the larger the rock, the larger the crater. We also noticed, however, that the craters were considerably larger than the rock that made it. Scientists estimate that the size of a crater on the moon will be about 20 times larger than the rock that created it.We then did a second experiment in which the size of the rock remained constant and the height at which we dropped the rock increased with each drop. As expected, the larger the impact (or the higher the drop) the larger the crater. With the highest drop, the stone bounced up and made a second crater. We noticed when we looked at pictures of moon craters, that the craters were almost always perfectly round. We learned that no matter the initial shape of the meteor or the angle of the impact, the resulting crater is always round. I also had them recall an experiment that Katie had led last year in which she photographed drops of water falling in a pan of water. They discovered then that as soon as the drop hits, it goes below the surface of the water, making a sort of crater, that ripples come from the center, hit the walls of the pan and bounce back and forth and that a mound of water forms in the center of the crater right after the drop is dropped.

Very large meteors have struck the moon so fast that they melt the rocks and the moon's surface turned into molten rock for a few minutes. It then solidifies before the peak has a chance to become level again. These craters then have a central peak.

Another Version of Making Craters (this time with pudding!)

Metamorphic Rock Bars

Metamorphic Rocks change from one form to another through Earth's heat and pressure. To demonstrate how heat and pressure can make substances change form, it is fun to make these bar cookies.

First put 1/4 cup melted butter in a 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle over it 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (you could use cookie crumbs instead). Pour 6 ounces of sweetened condensed milk over this. Sprinkle on, in layers, 3 1/2 ounces of raisins or coconut, (We used a combination.) 4 ounces of your favorite nuts or seeds (whatever you happen to have on hand.), 4 ounces of chocolate or butterscotch chips. Top with 3 1/2 ounces granola.

Place waxed paper on top and press down all over.

This represents the pressure exerted on metamorphic rocks.

Take off the waxed paper and bake about 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Cool. Slice into bars. Notice how some of the ingredients have changed a lot while others have made more subtle changes. This is also true for metamorphic rocks.

I have also seen the idea of making Rice Krispie bars instead. Same idea.

I don't remember where I got this idea, so I cannot give credit.

How Sedimentary Rocks Are Made

First pour equal amounts of sand, dirt, pebbles and water into a jar. Add a few shells, too. It doesn't matter what order you put them in, but saving the water for last will make putting the other components in easier.

Shake well. It will be murky. Let it sit for awhile..perhaps an hour or more.

The layers will separate on their own according to density. Have your students sketch and label the layers.

Then on the other side, have them list what rocks these sediments turn into over time.

The stones turn into conglomerate rock, the sand turns into sandstone, the dirt turns into shale and the lime in the shells can turn into limestone. The plant material and the shells could make fossils.

Limestone Cave Model

To make a model of a limestone cave, take a plastic bottle and invert it in a glass bottle, covering the mouth of the plastic bottle with foil. Punch a few holes in the foil.
Layer sand and sugar. Pour in warm water.

We didn't get a full cavern, but we did get cave tunnels.

To get the full instructions, check out Geology Crafts for Kids by Anderson, Diehn and Krautwurst.

Footprint Fossils in Sandstone Models

I first saw this project here, and it fit in perfectly with our study of fossils, and adds perfectly to our fossil model collection. Most sedimentary rock forms under water. Sediment, or pebbles, sand, clay and plankton (bodies of tiny dead animals and plants), is slowly buried by more sediment piling on top. Over a long period of time, as the pile gets heavier and heavier, the particles near the bottom are squeezed closer and closer together. Groundwater brings new minerals that cement the particles together to form sedimentary rock. If the sediment is mainly sand, it will change into sandstone. If the sediment is mostly clay, it will form shale. If the sediment contains mainly plankton, it will turn into limestone.

To simulate but speed up this process we infused some sand with the minerals (Epsom Salt) to cement the particles of sand together. To show how dinosaur footprints are sometimes left in rock, we pressed a toy dinosaur's foot into the wet sand to make an imprint. We will let this dry out over the weekend (or perhaps longer) and hopefully, we will have a model of sandstone with a dinosaur footprint in it.

Core Samples from Hostess Island

Geologists determine the compositon of the soil in an area by taking "core samples" with a special drill. This can be simulated with a Hostess Cupcake and a straw. Can your students determine the cake and filling samples from the surface icings?

How Mountains Are Made



The earth's plates are sitting on molten rock
 just like a graham crackers can floating on a plate of molasses.

You can demonstrate how mountains are made with just a few kitchen items. To show how the earth is like plates floating on molten rock, you can use a graham cracker sitting on a plate of molasses.  

Demonstrating how block-type mountains are made.

The Sierra Nevada mountains are block mountains.

 Then you can use more graham crackers to experiment with the ways mountains are made. Slide the graham crackers back and forth against each other and see how pieces break off and form block-type mountains. The Sierra Nevada mountains are block mountains.

Slide graham crackers back and forth against each other
and see how pieces break off and form block-type mountains

The Black Hills are dome mountains.

Molten rock boils up to form dome mountains, like the Black Hills

 

just like a thick toffee boiling in a pot on the stove... 

Volcano Pop-Up Booklet

and if it breaks through the surface become volcanoes. 

The Cascade Mountains are an example of volcanic mountains

The Cascade Mountains are an example of volcanic mountains.

The Appalachian mountains are an example of fold mountains

Wet the graham cracker a bit in the middle and then push the sides together to demonstrate how fold mountains are made. The Appalachian mountains are an example of fold mountains. 

Layers of the Earth Model You Can Eat

STEP 1: THE CRUST: Spray a medium mixing bowl with non-stick spray. Mix together 2 cups of crushed graham crackers with 4 Tab. of powdered sugar and 1/2 cup of melted butter. Press into the sides of the bowl, forming an even layer. This is the crust of the earth, which is easy for kids to remember because it is just a graham cracker pie crust. Put this in the freezer until firm.

STEP 2: THE MANTLE: Chop about 1/2 cup peanuts and stir into about a half-gallon of chocolate ice cream. Another alternative would be to buy a flavor that already has peanuts in it. Remove the crust from the freezer and gently line the frozen crust with the ice cream mixture. Return to the freezer until firm.

STEP 3: THE OUTER CORE: Swirl orange, red and yellow sherbets to get a "flaming" effect of melted iron and other elements. (Sometimes you can already find sherbet swirled.) You will only need a pint or less of this. Mix in a few M & M's. Remove the frozen layers from the freezer and gently spread the sherbet in (about 1' thick), leaving a round hole in the middle for the next layer. Put it back in the freezer.

STEP 4: THE INNER CORE: Since this layer is made up of mostly solid iron, you will need to color about a half-pint of vanilla ice cream gray. We used black cake decorator's coloring. You could also use equal amount of red and green food colorings. Mix in twice as much M & M's as you did in the Outer Core. Remove the frozen layers from the freezer and fill the cavity with the vanilla ice cream mixture. Return to the freezer until firm.

To serve, cut it into fourths. Remove one quarter at a time. Slice each quarter like a cake so that each serving shows the layers.


This is adapted from the idea in Home Education Curriculum, Grade 4 by Jean Wolffe, which is out of print. For another idea for earth layers you can eat, click here.

Another idea is playdough layers of the earth  which can be found at Meet the Dubiens.