Lesson Plan
Name: Ruthie Sutherland
Date: 10 February 2015
Grade level: 4th/5th
Length of lesson: 30 minutes
Title/theme/focus of lesson: Transforming Rocks
Common Core State Standards:
 4-ESS1-1. Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to
support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
Essential lesson question(s):
 How is an igneous rock formed?
 How is a metamorphic rock formed?
 How is a sedimentary rock formed?
Learning outcomes/objectives:
 The learner will be able to identify igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary rocks by the way
they are formed.
Vocabulary:
 Igneous
 Metamorphic
 Sedimentary
 Magma
 Lava
 Extrinsic
 Sediments
Assessment:
 On-going informal assessment will be used throughout the course of the lesson
o Thumbs up/thumbs down if you understand
 At the end of the lesson, students will record a summary of their notes and turn it in
Materials:
 Document camera and projector
 Blue, yellow, and red modeling clay
 Rock Cycle Worksheet
 Rock Cycle Pasting Sheet
 Rock Cycle Vocabulary Handout
 Glue sticks
 Scissors
Room environment:
 Students will sit in groups of 4 at their tables, facing front.
 The modeling clay will be prepared for each student to have a piece of blue, yellow, and red.
Accommodations & Modifications for diverse learners:
 ELLs (English Language Learners)
o The graphic organizer includes images that will be helpful for English learners to
understand and remember.
Multiple Intelligences
o The modeling clay will be a tactile way for students to learn, and it is a very handson activity for students who need to work with their hands.
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Special Needs
o Ms. O will assist students with special needs with one-on-one help.
GATE
o Gifted students will have an additional worksheet if they finish early.
Instructional Procedure:
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Anticipatory Set/Orientation:
 Introduce Rock Cycle video.
 Have students write down one thing they think is important to remember as we begin our
lesson on the Rock Cycle.
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Teaching/Instructional Process (input and modeling):
 Distribute the Rock Cycle Worksheet to each student. Keep one to use as a model.
 Tell students to take a pea-sized amount of yellow clay and place it on the Rock Cycle section
labeled “magma”. The yellow clay represents melted rock in the Earth’s mantle. Melted rock
is called magma when it is inside the Earth.
 Have students place dots of yellow clay going up the volcano chamber. Explain to students
that pressure building up in the earth is pushing the magma up towards the surface.
 Ask the students what happens when the pressure builds up even more.
 Direct students to use the yellow clay to show the volcano erupting. Tell students the melted
rock is referred to as lava when it reaches the surface of the earth. Have students dot the side
of the volcano to represent the lava flowing down the side of the volcano.
 Ask students what they think happens to the lava when it cools.
 Tell students that rock formed from molten materials is called igneous rock. The igneous
rock that forms outside of the earth is called extrinsic igneous rock. This type of igneous rock
cools relatively quickly. Because it cools so quickly igneous rocks that cool from lava have
specific properties.
 Have students record: “Lava cools to form igneous rocks.”
 Under Igneous Rocks record: “Magma cools to form igneous rocks, such as granite.”
 Transition to the bottom of the volcano and the lakebed.
 Have students place small blue pieces of clay going down the mountainside located on the
right side of the lakebed. Layer the blue pieces on top of the yellow pieces in the small
lakebed. Have students repeat with the yellow clay forming a yellow-blue-yellow sandwich.
 Explain to students that over time the weight of the layers of sediments pushed out the
water and the layers are compacted or pressed together to form a new rock called
“sedimentary rock”.
 Ask students where they might expect to find sedimentary rocks.
 Direct students to record the following about the lakebed: “Sedimentary rock is formed by
sediments that are compacted and pressed together.”
 Inform students that in addition to igneous and sedimentary rocks, there is a third kind of
rock called metamorphic rock, which is formed from sedimentary, igneous, or even other
metamorphic rocks.
 Explain to students that there has been a shift in the Earth’s crust (an earthquake) and some
of the sedimentary rock in the lakebed has moved down deep into the crust. Here the
sedimentary rock is exposed to high heat and intensive pressure.
 Add that the high heat caused the layered sedimentary to bend and reform into a different
rock. This “changed” rock is known as metamorphic rock.
 Direct students to model this process by rubbing their hands together, and then taking a
small amount of yellow and blue clay into their hands. Have students fold the yellow and
blue clay and then press it together so that some of the layers become green. The “green”
rock represents the newly formed metamorphic rock.
 Ask students what process would cause the layers to bend.
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Ask students if new rocks ever form. Validate student responses and explain that rocks are
constantly undergoing theses processes and changing into different kinds of rocks and that
these changes are called “The Rock Cycle”.
Have students draw an arrow from the sedimentary rock to the magma to show the
sedimentary rock can become molten rock, i.e. magma, once again. Have students write the
word “high heat” about the arrow to show that heating is the process that causes the
sedimentary rock to turn back into magma.
Next have students draw an arrow from the sedimentary rock to the word “Metamorphic” on
the worksheet and label the arrow with the words “high heat and pressure” to show that
sedimentary rocks can change into metamorphic rocks due to the processes of high heat and
pressure.
Finally, have students draw an arrow from the work “Igneous” on the worksheet to the word
“Metamorphic” to show that igneous rocks can also undergo high heat and pressure and
change into metamorphic rocks.
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Guided Practice and Monitoring:
 Have students write a paragraph to describe the rock cycle on their Rock Cycle worksheet.
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Monitoring/Check for understanding:
 Thumbs up or down for understanding
 Collect paragraph at the end of class to evaluate understanding.
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Closure:
 Distribute the Rock Cycle Pasting worksheet and the Rock Cycle Vocabulary handout to each
student.
 Direct students to cut out the Rock Cycle Vocabulary words and lay them out on their paper
where they think they go.
 Show a blank form under the document camera. Ask students to share what they put for
each step and explain why they made that choice.
 Have students glue down the pieces.
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Independent Practice:
 Turn to your A/B partner and talk through the steps of the Rock Cycle.
Sources:
Science Matters