Adult Content Knowledge
“Minerals are made, dissolved and remade – on the earth’s surface, in the oceans, and in the hot, high-pressure layers beneath the crust. Sediments of sand and shells of dead organisms are gradually buried, cemented together by dissolved minerals, and eventually turned into solid rock again. Sedimentary rock, buried deep enough may be changed by pressure and heat, perhaps melting and recrystallizing into different kinds of rocks.” SFAA pg. 46
“The earth comprises a great variety of minerals, whose properties depend on the history of how they were formed as well as on the elements of which they are composed. There abundance ranges from rare to almost unlimited.” SFAA pg. 42
“Everything on the earth operates in cycles. Change is the hallmark or our planet. Yet amidst all this change, there is constancy.” SM pg.192
Each type of rock can be changed from one form to another and then back again. Geologists call these transformations the rock cycle. Volcanic (igneous) rocks arrive at the surface…as magma – the molten form of rock. …molten masses that cool deep underground [are] intrusive rocks…many millions of years for the material above an intrusive rock formation to be lifted up or weathered away so that the rock can finally appear at the surface. (Mount Rushmore,
Stone Mountain, GA, Devil’s Tower)…thick deposits of sediment – layer upon layer of igneous rock fragments – buried, baked and turned to stone – sedimentary rock. Physical weathering…wedge-like effect of water freezing in cracks and pores…chemical weathering…actions of living organisms…provide raw material for the formation of sedimentary rocks. Most common sedimentary rock – sandstone (from sand), shale (made from silt and clay), and limestone (made from the skeletons of microscopic organisms). At high temperatures, clays and other common minerals give up water…while at high pressure, atoms in a rock rearrange themselves to form new and denser minerals… rocks that have changed since they were first formed are called metamorphic rocks.” SM pgs. 193-195
Susan Kagel
NCOSP
December, 2005

Instructional Implications
Concepts and Specific Ideas
“Perhaps the most important reason for students to study the earth repeatedly is that they take years to acquire knowledge that they need to complete the picture… Grades 3 through 5 … it is essential that students make physical models and explain what the models show.” BSL pg.
66-67
Students may show more interest in the phenomena than in the role the phenomena play in sculpting the earth [earthquakes, volcanoes, floods]…start with…immediate interests and work toward the science…students’ recognition of effects of [erosion, annual deposits of sediments, creep of continents, rise of mountains] will depend on an improving sense of long time periods… Students should become adept at using magnifiers to inspect a variety of rocks and soils…not to classify rigorously but to notice the variety of components. Students should now observe elementary processes of the rock cycle – erosion, transport, and deposit.” BSL pgs. 71, 72
“Understanding rocks and minerals should not be extended to the study of the source of the rocks, such as sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic, because the origin of rocks and minerals has little meaning to young children. … Emphasis in grades K-4 should be on developing observation and description skills and the explanations based on observation…Older students can keep journals, use instruments, and record their observations and measurements.” NSES pgs.130, 134.
By the end of 5 th
grade, students should know that: “1. Waves, wind, water and ice shape and reshape the earth’s surface by eroding rock and soil in some areas and depositing them in other areas, sometimes in seasonal layers. 2. Rock is composed of different combinations of minerals. Smaller rocks form from the breakage and weathering of bedrock and larger rocks.
Soil is made partly from weathered rock, partly from plant remains – and also contains many living organisms.” BSL pg. 72
“Fundamental concepts and principles that underlie this standard include: Properties of Earth
Materials – Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere.
Changes in the Earth and Sky – The surface of the earth changes. Some changes are due to slow processes, such as erosion and weathering, and some changes are due to rapid processes such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.” NSES pg. 134
Susan Kagel
NCOSP
December, 2005

Research on Student Learning
Coherency and Articulation
State Standards
“Students may hold the view that the world was always as it is now, or that any changes that have occurred must have been sudden and comprehensive (with no formal instruction on topic). Middle school students taught through traditional means are not able to construct coherent explanations about the causes of volcanoes and earthquakes.” BSL pg. 336
“Children tend to apply the word “rock” intuitively and often to mineral samples. …rocks had to be large, heavy and jagged…rock was at first regarded as being made of only one substance…may classify rocks as crystals rocks and normal rocks…crystal is used to describe both rock and mineral specimens, but only if the sample is thought to be attractive in appearance….did not associate ‘mineral’ with rocks…used the words ‘boulder’, ‘gravel’,
‘sand’, ‘clay’ in everyday language not in relation to average size of fragments… soil is the precursor of rock and that it changes to rock in the sequence - soil-clay-rock” MSSS pgs. 112-
114
Rocks and Sediment Strand – K-2 “Chunks of rocks come in many sizes and shapes, from boulders to grains of sand and even smaller.” 3-5 “Rock is composed of different combinations of minerals. Smaller rocks come from the breakage and weathering of bedrock and larger rocks. Soil is made partly from weathered rock, partly from plant remains-and also contains many living organisms.” ASL pg. 51
GLE 1.1.5 “Understand physical properties of Earth materials including rocks, soils, water, and air” - Describe and sort rocks based on physical properties (e.g., color, shape, size, texture); Describe and sort soils based on physical properties (e.g., color, particle size, ability to retain or drain water, texture, smell, support plant growth, source of mineral nutrients [not food] for plants.)
GLE 1.2.3 “Know that substances are made of small particles” – Identify small parts of a substance as still being that substance; Describe objects that are made of only one kind of material and objects made of several kinds of materials.
GLE 1.2.4 “Understand that Earth’s system includes a mostly solid interior, landforms, bodies of water, and an atmosphere.” – Describe how one part of Earth’s system depends on or connects to another part of Earth’s system.
GLE 1.3.4. “Know the processes that change the surface of the Earth” Describe how weathering and erosion change the surface of the Earth”
Susan Kagel
NCOSP
December, 2005

Reference Key SFAA – Science for All Americans
SM – Science Matters
BSL – Benchmarks of Science Literacy
NSES – National Science Education Standards
MSSS – Making Sense of Secondary Science
ALS – Atlas of Science Literacy
GLE – Washington State Grade Level Expectations
Susan Kagel
NCOSP
December, 2005