Topography and Gemstones

Topography. The children learnt how to understand contours on a map. We made some basic dough mountains,some steep and some with a gentle slope, but all 5cm high.

At each cm we sliced the dough and drew around the base.

The children learnt that contour lines close together signify a steeper incline.

Rocks under a microscope.

An experiment to see what happens to water when it freezes inside a rock. We filled balloons with water, coated them in clay and left them to dry. When they had dried - about 24 hours - the children put them in the freezer.

Because water expands when it is frozen, the rocks cracked.

Learning about gemstones and where they come from in the world.

The children each drew a map of the world.

My shiny card collection came in use for this!

Create your own gemstone.

A Week of More Geology Fun!

Understanding the layers of the earth.  Flour and coloured water...

Inner core, outer core, mantle, crust.

We are in the middle of a week long experiment: 5x freezing and thawing sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks to see the effect ice has on each

Understanding the soil of our county.  We have chalk, three types of clay, sand and limestone.

 Its uses.

Making clay fossilised prints.

Earthquakes and tectonic plates.

Buildings designed to withstand earthquakes.

Unless you build right over a fault line!

The Richter Scale

Understanding sedimentary layers and density.

100ml of water, sand, cornflour and oil.

Weighing each 100ml highlighted the difference in densities. We used these to guess which layer would settle where.

It doesn't matter how much you mix them all up, they still settle in layers.

Collecting soil, stones, moss, sand and pebbles from the garden...

 ...to make layers...

...add water, shake...

...and make notes on which bit settles first and how long it takes.

Geology Thematic Unit

Geology!

Our new thematic unit comes with a new shade of fireplace. Because that is how I roll.

We started our unit with an experiment to gain a basic understanding of the the cycle of the three main rocks to be found on and in our planet.

Sediments (crayon shavings)...

...under pressure...

...make sedimentary rocks.

Sedimentary rocks under extreme pressure...

...become metamorphic rocks.

Metamorphic rocks heated become igneous rocks.

The Boy chose a selection of rocks to roll on a slope.  He timed each one.

Ballet Girl weighed and compared rocks.

They completed some super work.

The Boy experimented with vinegar and rocks to see which contained Calcium Carbonate. 

 Those that did, fizzed and let off tiny CO2 bubbles.

Floating and sinking hypothesising and experimenting,

Identifying our collection of semi-precious stones.

Learning about rocks.

Using oats, sultanas, syrup, butter and honey as sediments for sedimentary rocks...

...to make metamorphic rocks/flapjacks under heat.

Using playdough and a straw to understand how layers form.

The Boy designed a machine strong enough to withstand extreme heat and able to explore below the Earth's crust.