We use cookies to make your experience better. To comply with the new e-Privacy directive, we need to ask for your consent to set the cookies. Learn more.
Rocks and Dirt Book
Target age group: 10-14+
Description: An origins-neutral curriculum that covers not just the usual "rocks and minerals" but soil science, as well. The engaging text will take you on an adventure of exploration into the world of the inorganic, with special emphasis on chemistry. The first half of the book (about 150 pages) is the student text with all the information you will need, plus comprehension self-checks, word puzzles and other pencil activities. The 150-page teacher's section gives you instructions (and patterns where necessary) for high-content games, crafts, labs and other activities. There is also a playlist just for this curriculum posted on the Basement Workshop YouTube channel.
NOTE: You do NOT need to purchase a set of rocks to use this curriculum, but I do indicate where a purchased mineral set can be used (in chapter 2). Any extra resources you want to buy will certainly enhance the curriculum, but they are not an absolute necessity.
Topics covered: A review of the Periodic Table and the elements, definition of what a mineral is, mineral properties and identification, the silicon atom, silicate minerals (the quartz family), the Bowen reaction series (though this term is not used), in-depth study of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic), rock identification, limestone and the chemistry of calcium carbonate, coal and natural gas, caves and karst, an introduction to soil science including some soil biology, seismic waves, clay molecules and why they are important, sedimentary layers of the crust, fact versus inference, inferences about the earth's interior structure (mantle, core, etc.), topography of the ocean floor and the history of its discovery, difference between continental and oceanic crust (granite and basalt), lava chemistry (mafic versus felsic plus cross-over depth), faults and earthquakes, the discovery of geological layers, the Grand Canyon layers, how radiometric dating works (K-Ar, Ar-Ar and C-14), the history of the plate tectonics theory, reasons why some people think plate tectonics can't be right, and introductions to two alternatives to plate tectonics: the surge tectonic theory and the hydroplate theory.
NOTE: This curriculum is extremely clear about what is fact and what is inference. Students will not be told theories as if they are facts. Theories are presented as such. The bulk of the book centers on observable facts about rocks and minerals, not speculations.
Activities included: Cut and assemble paper crystal shapes, two density labs, "Make Five" card game about mineral recipes (this game is also found in The Elements), "Mineral Auction" (a card game about minerals), agate art project, magma lab using salt water, "cookie mining" (this activity can be found other places on the Internet), "Follow the Rocky Road" (a card game about rock identification), edible rocks (a cooking activity), several labs about limestone chemistry, "The Limestone Game" (a board game), craft project about coccolithophores (microfossils found in chalk), soil profile box craft project, several soil analysis labs, a step-by-step drawing showing a microscopic view of soil (uses a video found on the playlist), ocean floor mapping simulation activity, shrinking plastic craft about inside of earth, edible core sampling activity, step-by-step drawing of trilobite fossils, paper dodecahedron or octahedron globe, two songs about rocks, cross-over depth demonstration, half-life lab, extrapolation lab, "The Rock Hopping Game," and a review quiz game.
Time requirement: This will depend on how many of the activities you intend to do. If you just read the text and choose a few activities for each chapter, you can probably complete it in 8 to 9 weeks. The curriculum can easily be stretched to fill a longer time period, even a semester, if you take two weeks for each chapter, do all the activities, and perhaps supplement along the way with some extra books about topics that your student finding interesting, such as caves or compost.
Author Ellen McHenry is known for her straightforward approach to a variety of science topics. This curriculum is full of age-appropriate explanations, hands-on activities, and the familiar Ellen McHenry fingerprint characters and cartoons. The author discusses the difference between observable facts and inference, focusing on the facts. Courses are well-written, allowing children to understand more complex topics easily. Student activities vary and may include pencil-and-paperwork (like word puzzles or quizzes), internet links or a hands-on project. Illustrations are a mix of black and white, and color.
One book is required for the course, and includes the reproducible Student Text with activities , and a Teacher Section. Additional Student Books are available for most courses. This is a great option for parents/teachers with multiple students-like in a co-op or classroom. Activity pages in the core book are reproducible for families or single classroom use. The author has set up a YouTube® channel with a myriad of short videos to accompany the courses. Worth mentioning, the courses are completely doable without this bonus internet content. An exceptional science option for upper elementary and middle school ages to learn topics with more depth compared to many other science programs.
Author Ellen McHenry is known for her straightforward approach to science topics. Everything (except lab supplies) between two covers. This reproducible book is great for classrooms, homeschoolers, and coops. Chapter content builds conceptually elements first; then minerals and silicates (comprised of elements); rocks (made of minerals and silicate); a whole chapter is devoted to limestone for its abundance and importance; soil; earth's structure; and lastly, ideas or theories about the past and the earth's age. Something you don't often see in Science books, this text presents ideas or theories about dating the age of rocks, fossils, the earth, and tectonics, but never endorses one over the other. The author discusses the difference between observable facts and inference, focusing on the facts.
Each chapter begins with the textual information and is followed by different types of activities comprehension check (short answer), videos to watch, matching pictures, crosswords, etc.
This curriculum is a good introduction to rocks, with age-appropriate explanations, some colorful graphics, hands-on activities, and the familiar Ellen McHenry fingerprint characters and cartoons. A weighty resource with 130+ student pages, answer key, bibliography that includes helpful website links, and teacher's section (full of games crafts, labs, and activities to pick and choose those that best fit you and your learner). 300+ pgs, pb. ~ Donna
Product Format: | Paperback |
---|---|
Brand: | Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop |
Grades: | 4-9 |
ISBN: | 9780988780880 |
Length in Inches: | 11 |
Width in Inches: | 8.5 |
Height in Inches: | 0.625 |
Weight in Pounds: | 1.7 |