Science – Rocks

We have enjoyed exploring and categorising different types of rock.

We learned about how certain rocks are created. We used dark, milk and white chocolate (sediments) to explain how metamorphic rock is formed.  The Earth can transform igneous and sedimentary rocks into metamorphic.  High pressure and temperature change the rock to metamorphic, this was represented by the melted chocolate.  It then cooled and solidified.  When we cut it open, we saw the different patterns and the internal structure.

Limestone (sedimentary) converts to marble, Shale (sedimentary) converts to slate and granite (igneous) forms Gneiss.

 

To learn how fossils are formed, we used different types of bread and jelly sweets.  The bread represented the sediments.  We applied pressure using heavy books and left the bread for a few days (to represent thousands of years).  We discovered that, when we removed the sweets (similar to how the animal or plant would have decayed), an impression was left.  This would be filled with mud and sediments to form a fossil.

The children investigated the permeability of different types of soil.  Our investigation revealed that sand let water through the quickest and garden soil ‘held’ the water for longer.