Four Winds Nature Institute
4 Casey Rd. Chittenden, VT 05737
802-353-9440 www.fourwindsinstitute.org
Earth – ROCKS – Puppet Show
(Revised from Hands-on Nature)
Characters: Teacher, Grandma Granite, Sandy Sandstone, Maggie Marble.
Props: small box of rocks, slice of white bread, slice of wheat bread, peanut butter or cream cheese, jelly,
spreaders, rolling pin, paper plate, towel for cleanup.
Teacher I’m so excited. I’m teaching a unit on
rocks for the first time. I’ll just look through this
box of rocks to get some teaching ideas.
Grandma Granite May I be of some help?
Teacher A talking rock? I can’t believe it. Is
this some kind of a joke?
Granite Certainly not. Let me introduce myself.
I’m Grandma Granite. I’m igneous and proud of
it!
Teacher Oh my, I’ve never met a talking rock
before. You must be a genius.
Granite Not a genius, dear! I said I’m igneous.
An igneous rock!
Teacher Oh, I am sorry, Grandma. As you can
see, I have a lot to learn about rocks. Just what is
an igneous rock?
Granite Igneous rocks are formed deep inside
the earth where it’s very hot. Why it’s more than
ten times hotter than boiling water. Imagine that!
We rocks just melt when it gets that hot, and we
turn into molten magma. Then, when we cool
we become, well, rock hard!
Teacher I see. So, igneous rocks are formed
when magma cools and hardens. What about the
lava from volcanoes. Does it form igneous rocks
too?
Granite That’s right! Volcanic rocks from
lava are close cousins of mine. But here comes
Sandy Sandstone, a very different kind of rock.
You’ll want to meet him. (exits)
Sandy Sandstone Hello! Who are you?
Teacher I’m Mrs. Beecher. I’m an elementary
school teacher.
Sandstone Well, you might be elementary, but
I’m sedimentary! Sedimentary rock. I’m made
of sediments – tiny bits of rocks, minerals, or
shells.
Teacher How can you be made up of tiny rock
pieces? You look very solid to me! (taps on
Sandstone’s head)
Sandstone Well, it’s because of the rock cycle.
Over millions of years, rocks get worn down by
erosion into tiny grains of sand. Then the sand
settles on the ocean floor, layer upon layer, until
the sediments get pressed and cemented together
into rocks – rocks like me!
Teacher Hmm. All those layers sound a bit
complicated.
Sandstone Not really. It’s as simple as making
a sandwich.
Teacher Gee, I’m planning to have a sandwich
for lunch.
Sandstone Good! You can listen to my story
while you make your sandwich. A long time ago
a river was flowing out to sea, carrying white
sand. The sand sank to the bottom and was
cemented into a layer of white sandstone.
Teacher (holds up slice of white bread) This
can be the white sandstone.
Sandstone After a landslide, tons of mud and
rocks get carried out to sea, and they sink to the
bottom, covering the white sandstone.
Teacher (spreads peanut butter or cream
cheese on the bread) Here’s a layer of mud and
rocks.
limestone. Then pressure and heat deep inside
the earth folded and twisted me, and turned me
into marble!
Sandstone For thousands of years, colorful
shellfish live and multiply on the bottom of the
sea, and their crushed shells form another layer.
Teacher I never imagined heat and pressure
could make such a change!
Teacher (spreads on jelly) Mmm, maybe they
were purple shells, like this jelly!
Sandstone Over time, the river cuts a different
channel. Now it flows more slowly, carrying
tiny particles of brown clay that settle out to
form a layer of darker rock.
Teacher (places slice of wheat bread on top)
Here’s the brown rock to top it off!
Sandstone And there you have it: a
sedimentary rock – sandwich!
Teacher Now sandwich geology is something I
can really sink my teeth into! Are there different
kinds of sedimentary rocks?
Sandstone There sure are. I was made from
sand, but some sedimentary rocks are made from
clay and others from shells. Why I even know
some rocks that were made from plants! You’ve
heard of coal, haven’t you?
Teacher Of course. People burn coal for heat.
A rock made of plants? Amazing!
Sandstone We rocks are amazing. You should
meet another rock friend of ours. Here she
comes now. So long! (exits)
Teacher Bye Sandy. (Marble enters) Why,
hello. Who are you?
Maggie Marble I’m Maggie Marble. People
like to make statues, buildings, and monuments
out of marble like me. Why, I’m positively
metamorphic!
Teacher Did you say metamorphosis? Are you
made of caterpillars or something?
Marble No, but like caterpillars, I’ve changed
from one form into another. That’s what
metamorphic means, changing form. You see, I
used to be sedimentary, just a chunk of
Marble Oh, yes. Why, imagine baking your
sandwich in a pizza oven. It’d burn to a crisp!
And if you want to see how pressure can change
things, try folding your sandwich and using a
rolling pin over it.
Teacher Okay, if you say so… (folds the
sandwich and rolls it with rolling pin) Oh my,
this sandwich sure has changed. (holds up
mangled sandwich)
Marble Nice marbling! Have a nice lunch. Bye.
(exits)
Teacher Gee, I don’t think I’m hungry
anymore. Well, what will I learn next?
Granite Well, dear, there are hundreds of
different kinds of rocks, but we’re all made in
one of three ways! Can you remember them all?
Teacher Of course. There are igneous rocks,
like you Grandma, formed from molten magma.
There are sedimentary rocks made of sediments
pressed and cemented together in layers. And
there are metamorphic rocks, changed by heat
and pressure deep underground.
Granite Now you sound like an expert. Glad
we rocks could give you some support.
Teacher Thanks, Grandma Granite. You rocks
support us in many ways, and I’m sorry I’ve
taken you for granted all these years.
Granite That’s okay, dear. After all, I am
granite! Goodbye now and have fun learning
more about rocks.
THE END