Students need to understand the role of rocks in their own world. They could survey structures that they observe every day and decide how important rocks are in their own lives. Students should explore other uses for rocks and try to discover an unconventional use for a rock to share with their classmates. Students will do a further study of rocks in the fourth grade where they will learn about properties of local rocks as well as obtain additional information about minerals. After students have talked about the characteristics and purposes of rocks, they will relate their knowledge about rocks to the theme of change.
Rocks change by being broken down into smaller rocks through pressure, weather, water, and heat.
Very small rocks are changed into larger rocks through the process of layering, the addition of natural cement, and pressure. Rocks are an example of one kind of material combining with another kind of material to create a new object. Students should understand the concept of rocks changing well enough to create a model of a changing rock. The thermometer will be introduced as a tool to measure temperature in the second grade. Students will record and graph temperatures, observe changes in tempertaure, and see how heat travels from one object to another.