Technicians’ lists of equipment
Downloaded from www.catalystscience.co.uk
Catalyst 2, Unit G: Rocks
and weathering
Lesson G1: Rock breaking
Starter activities
Problem solving
For each group:
 one piece of each of several rocks (eg limestone, sandstone, chalk, mudstone, granite, basalt,
gneiss, marble, slate)
 hand lens.
If possible provide several different types of rocks such as limestone and sandstone. These are
likely to have different colours and/or grain sizes but otherwise be similar
Main activities
G1a Rocks and porosity
For each group:
 rock samples
 hand lens
 400 cm3 beaker
 top-pan balance
 stopwatch
 paper towels
G1b Physical weathering
For the teacher:
 2 glass bottles with screw lids
 2 rubber bands
 Bunsen burner
 beaker of ice cubes in water
 2 clear plastic bags
 glass rod
 forceps
Lesson G2: Disappearing rocks
Starter activities
Capture interest (1)
 2 ×400cm3 beakers,
 2 Petri dishes,
 marble chippings,
 hydrochloric acid of 2.0mol dm−3 concentration,
 filter funnel,
 filter paper
This list is in Microsoft Word, so it can be customised to fit each school’s requirements.
1
Technicians’ lists of equipment
Downloaded from www.catalystscience.co.uk
Catalyst 2, Unit G: Rocks
and weathering
Main activities
G2a Chemical weathering
For each group:
 watchglasses
 dilute sulphuric acid
 dropper
 samples of limestone, sandstone, granite and chalk
G2b Where weathering happens
 world map(s) showing maximum and minimum temperatures
 world map(s) showing rainfall
Lesson G3: Transporting rocks
Main activities
G3a How do sediments move?
For each group:
 shallow tray
 clamps
 tube from cold water tap
 large plastic trough
 sand
 brick
G3b Erosion
For each group:
 clay cubes (11/2 cm cubes fired in a kiln)
 sieve
 access to a digital balance
 newspaper
 plastic bottle or jar
Lesson G3 Investigate: Does particle size affect deposition?
Starter activities
Setting the context
 1000cm3 measuring cylinder
 four or five different diameter marbles (three of each size)
 stopwatch
Introduce the apparatus
 100cm3 measuring cylinder,
This list is in Microsoft Word, so it can be customised to fit each school’s requirements.
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Technicians’ lists of equipment
Downloaded from www.catalystscience.co.uk
Catalyst 2, Unit G: Rocks
and weathering




non-permanent felt-tip pen,
access to balance,
stopwatch,
sand of several grain sizes
Main activities
G3d Does particle size affect deposition?
For the teacher:
 1000cm3 measuring cylinder
 several marbles of each of four or five diameters
 stopwatch
For each group:
 100cm3 measuring cylinder
 non-permanent felt-tip pen
 stopwatch
 access to a balance
 sand of several grain sizes
Lesson G4: Layers of sediment
Starter activities
Problem solving
 a variety of different fossils or photos of fossils
Main activities
G4a Swirling sediments
For each group:
 1000 cm3 beaker
 100 cm3 beaker
 mixture of sand, gravel and stones
G4b Evaporating sea water
For each group:
 sea water
 50cm3 measuring cylinder
 evaporating basin
 Bunsen burner
 tripod
 gauze
 ceramic mat
‘Sea water’ can be made by dissolving 35g of sodium chloride per dm3.
This list is in Microsoft Word, so it can be customised to fit each school’s requirements.
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