Eliza Marks
Week 3 Lesson Plans
Summerbridge: Geoscience
During the third week students will study sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, how
they are formed, and what they indicate about the environment they were formed
in. Additionally we will examine types of rock deformation, and how to make a
geologic history
MONDAY JULY 2—Sedimentary rocks
MATERIALS
Chalk board
Photo rock halite
Photo sedimentary rock (normal)
Photo coal
Graham crackers, gingersnaps, oreos
Skittles
Clear plastic cups
Wax paper
Limestone sample, sandstone sample, conglomerate sample
OBJECTIVES
Students will identify the steps of sedimentary rock formation.
Students demonstrate how sedimentary rocks are made.
Students will classify and characterize different types of sedimentary rock.
PROCEDURE
1. warm-up
(7 minutes)
a. how are sedimentary rocks formed? In what environments?
i. Formed by erosion of pre-existing rock, transport of
sediments by wind and water, deposition of the sediments at
riverbanks, oceans, lakes, deltas and in deserts, and
cementation (when water enters the spaces and cements
the grains together)
2. we have three types of sedimentary rocks
(5 minutes)
a. what do you think the three environments are?
b. physical: sediments are caused when sediment placed down
c. chemical: evaporation, and rock remains. For example rock halite
d. organic: organic sediment buried (ie. Coral Forest). Material can’t
decompose if buried because not enough oxygen forms coal
3. ACTIVITY: make your own sedimentary rock
(25 minutes)
a. Pass out graham cracker crumbs, gingersnap crumbs, oreo crumbs,
and skittles
b. explain to the students that each type of crumb is a different type of
rock
c. why would there be multiple types of rock? Each rock is created in a
specific environment
d. tell them a scenario each sediment was deposited
i. a river was flowing through the land, and deposited its rocks in
layers (first skittles for bigger rocks, then gingersnaps for the
smaller sediments)
ii. pour in a little water and push down
iii. the river dried up and the area became desert. So sand was
deposited (graham cracker crumbs)
iv. pour in a little water and push down
v. then sea level rose, and limestone was deposited (oreo
crumbs)
vi. pour in a little water and deposit
e. what can we see when we look at the side of our rock?
i. Sediments deposited in layers
ii. Oldest sediments are on the bottom
4. the sediments can tell us about the environment in which the sediment was
deposited… show sandstone, limestone, and conglomerate samples (5
minutes)
a. where do you think sandstone is deposited? -- deserts
b. Where do you think limestone is deposited? (hint: limestone is made
of animal shells)—ocean basin
c. Where do you think conglomerate is made? (hint: made up of pebbles
and sand)—rivers
5. cool-down
(3 minutes)
a. thumbs-up, thumbs-down
i. the three types of sedimentary rocks are chemical, physical
and organic
UP
ii. sediments are deposited in flat layers
UP
iii. the process of making sedimentary rocks is 1) erosion 2)
deposition 3)transport 4)cementation
DOWN
iv. limestone is made of sand
DOWN
v. conglomerate is deposited in rivers
UP
GEOSCIENCE HOMEWORK
JAPAN—Eliza
SEDIMENTARY ROCK WORKSHEET
DUE JULY 3
NAME _________________________________________________________________________________________
DESCRIBE the formation sedimentary rocks in detail. You may use a scenario,
specific environment, or story to help you. Include details form how the sediments
formed to how they were cemented.
MINIMUM 8 sentences.
TUESDAY JULY 3—Sedimentary Environments and Rock Deformations
MATERIALS
Chalkboard
Photos of depositional environments
Blank hole-punched paper
Colored markers (for webs)
Photo San Andreas fault, reverse fault, and fold
OBJECTIVES
Students will identify sedimentary environments and use previous knowledge of the
environments to predict the sediment.
Students will classify rock deformations, and infer what the type of force caused
them.
PROCEDURE
1. warm-up
(15 minutes)
a. Think Pair and share: list all of the sedimentary environments you can
think of. Pick one and tell me what you think the sedimentary rock is
made of.
i. Desert (sand from eroded rock), Lakes (organic materials),
Glaciers (stones and organic material), Deltas (fine sediment—
Silt), Beach (sandstone and limestone (which is from shells)),
Rivers (rocks to gravel, sand, sedimentary material)
ii. Present material in a web
2. Rock deformations
(25 minutes)
a. We said that sedimentary rocks are deposited in flat layers, but how
does the earth’s surface change? MAKE A WEB
i. Fold and faults
ii. Recall compressional and tensional forces…what do you think
they can create if applied to the earth’s crust?
1. ACTIVITY: pass out a worksheet that shows the four
types of faults (normal, reverse, strike/slip and joint).
On the back side put a fold to have the students label)
2. Have students work in groups of 2. Then we can make a
web on the board using observations they made about
each fault and fold, but also the type of force that caused
them
iii. Erosion
3. Closing
(5 minutes)
a. Load a picture of the following and have students identify and explain
why they chose what they did: San Andreas fault, reverse fault, eroded
folding
GEOSCIENCE CLASSROOM HANDOUT
JAPAN—Eliza
TUESDAY JULY 3
Rock Deformation
NAME_________________________________________________________________________________________
DRAW each of the following and LABEL the type of force applied.
1. Reverse fault
2. normal fault
3. strike-slip fault
DRAW an example of Folds of sedimentary rock, with multiple layers.
Label Syncline (S), Anticline (A), the Oldest Layer (O), and the Youngest Layer (Y)
What type of rock forms folds? What type of rock forms faults? (your choices are
ductile/soft or brittle) Explain why.
WEDNESDAY JULY 4—OFF
THURSDAY JULY 5—Metamorphic rock
MATERIALS
Chalk board and chalk
Photos sample and Smartboard
Samples of metamorphic rock
OBJECTIVES
Students will recognize steps of Metamorphic Rock formation.
Students will use pre-existing knowledge to recognize how the rock’s minerals
change form due to pressure, by examining various metamorphic rock samples.
Students will combine knowledge of the three types of rock to predict how the three
types of rock “interact” to form the complex continental crust.
PROCEDURE
1. warm-up
(15 minutes)
a. what do you know about how metamorphic rocks form? Look back
through your notes from Monday
b. write up a board using arrows and detail “blocks” in list form
i. metamorphic rocks are rocks that have “morphed” into
another kind of rock
ii. these rocks were once igneous or sedimentary rocks
iii. the rocks are under tons and tons of pressure, which fosters
het build up, and this causes them to change
iv. if you look closely at some metamorphic rick samples closely,
you’ll discover how flattened some of the grains in the rock are
2. ACTIVITY
(25 minutes)
a. Rock ID: Metamorphic Rock
b. Have students make observations of: shale, phyllite, schist, quartzite,
granulate. VISUAL: colors, if layering, if we can see minerals, whether
they are flattened or not… FEEL: texture
c. tell students that in general, the grain size of metamorphic rocks tend
to increase with increasing grade of metamorphism, as seen in the
progression form fine-grained shales to coarse (but still fine) grained
slates, to coarser grained schists and gneisses.
d. Have students try to put them in the order of pressure
i. Slate (from shale…sedimentary) Schist  gneiss  granulite
3. Cool- Down
(5 minutes)
a. How do you think metamorphic rock, sedimentary rock, and igneous
rock fit together, in the Earth’s Crust?
i. Sedimentary rock can form together sediments
ii. Metamorphic can form when there is too much pressure or
compression
iii. Igneous can intrude into preexisting rocks
GEOSCIENCE HOMEWORK
JAPAN—Eliza
DUE THURSDAY JULY 4
Metamorphic Rock and Geologic History Worksheet
Names ________________________________________________________________________________________
DRAW a rock cycle that describes how igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary
rocks change form. Use arrows and label them to indicate processes like melting,
erosion, etc.
FRIDAY JULY 6—Geologic histories
MATERIALS
Smartboard
Classroom handout
Colored pencils
OBJECTIVES
Students will identify the steps of making a geologic history
Students will employ these steps to unravel a cross-sectional diagram of continental
crust and explain their answers. This includes recalling prior knowledge about the
three rock types and deformations.
Students will predict how a cross-section of continental crust will look (and sketch
it) given the Geologic history.
PROCEDURE
1. think pair and share: (7 minutes)
a. what do you think a geologic history is? (break it down by word)
What can it tell us about environments and how they change?
i. Geologic histories are histories developed by looking at the
rock layers
ii. Sometimes the same location can change from being deep
ocean to desert…the geologic history can tell us how this
development happened
iii. What do you think is the most important rock to consider?
Sedimentary
iv. We can date some sediments, but also there are fossils caught
in the sediments
2. Make our own geologic histories (10 minutes)
a. What are some things to consider when we look at a geologic history:
i. Sedimentary Rocks: oldest layers at the bottom, newest at the
surface
ii. Rock deformation: faults and folds
iii. erosion (weathering/wearing away of surface) due to wind,
water, acid…
iv. igneous rock “intrusion” (when magma pushes into the
country rock)
b. break down an example on the board… Do as a class on board
i. label sedimentary layers, igneous intrusions, and
metamorphosed rock
ii. also talk about erosion
iii. label each layer with a letter
iv. put the letters in order of age as a class
v. explain why
3. ACTIVITY
(23 minutes)
a. Put students in groups of two or three
b. Have them finish the handout (one geologic history they “unravel” and
one they draw from a timeline description (make sure they use paper)
c. Circle the classroom helping students.
d. collect papers at the end
4. Closing
(5 minutes)
a. what is hard about making and unraveling geologic histories?
b. have everyone think of one thing and then share to the class using
“public speaking voices”
GEOSCIENCE CLASSROOM HANDOUT
JAPAN—Eliza
TUESDAY JULY 3
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
Name _________________________________________________________________________________________
GEOLOGIC HISTORY: a “history” that provides us a timeline of how
rocks are form or were lain down. Geologists make these by examining
the layers of rock, how they eroded and were deformed, and so forth.
Today in class we will be unraveling cross-sections of Earth’s crust, and
making Geologic Histories. Then we will make a cross-sectional
diagram using a Geologic history.
DIRECTIONS to Unravel a diagram of a cross section of crust
(1)
Label each layer with a letter and make a key
(2)
Define what type of rock each layer is on the key
(3)
Consider how the rocks could have intruded each other,
deformed, metamorphosed, eroded…
(4)
Talk about it with your partner
(5)
Write down a history
(6)
USE PENCIL
1. IN CLASS EXAMPLE
Timescale (EXPLAIN EACH STEP)
2. With your partner
Remember to make a key
Timescale (explain each step)
3. Make your own Diagram using the following Geologic history
directions:
Read all the steps completely. Make a Key. Draw each step lightly in pencil and have
an eraser on hand. Use the entire page.
SAMPLE GEOLOGIC HISTORY
1. 2 layers of limestone were deposited
2. 2 layers of sandstone were deposited
3. The rock was MAJOR folded due to compressional forces
4. There was erosion due to weathering, that exposed both layers of sandstone
and one layer of limestone to the Earth’s surface
5. Another layer of siltstone was deposited
6. Granite intruded into the limestone and sandstone