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Appendices

11 Key Stage 2 example activity sequence: Rocks

Introduction

This appendix sets out an example of the relationships between statutory requirements and practical teaching. The activity chosen is that most directly relevant to rocks in the KS1/2 (Primary school) ie Unit 3D of the official Science Scheme of Work, produced by the QCA (available on www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes) based on the NC requirements.

Note on copyright
The copyright of the sections of the Schemes of Work quoted here is held by the QCA and must not be used for commercial purposes without permission from the QCA; for non-commercial purposes, the QCA should be quoted as the source.

This appendix also contains extracts from the Earth Science Teachers' Association (ESTA), publication, Working with Rocks' an activity pack designed for teachers of KS1-2. Copyright is retained by ESTA and the National Stone Centre. However the material may be used for teaching purposes (with appropriate acknowledgement), but may not be published whatsoever in any form without the explicit consent of both of the copyright owners.

The text reproduced below does refer to a number of elements of the ESTA Pack which are not included here. Copies of the full Pack may be purchased from the National Stone Centre (£6.99 inc p&p). A similar pack is also available on soils, also for use with Unit 3D.

THE PROCESS
Using the QCA Scheme of Work, or directly referring to the NC Programme of Study, a teacher (or a lead science teacher (primary school) or department (in secondary school)), or school will draw up her/his own scheme of work and in turn, a series of lesson plans. They may very often rely upon a particular learning scheme for support e.g. as produced by one of the mainstream educational publishers, or specialist teacher support organisations such as the Association for Science Education (ASE), Geographical Association (GA), Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), or Earth Science Teachers' Association (ESTA).

SUBJECT - Science Key Stage 2

Document: Programme of Study ((published by DfES)
Section - Sc3 Materials and their properties

Pupils should be taught:
1(d) to describe and group rocks and soils on the basis of their characteristics, including appearance, texture and permeability.

Document: Scheme of Work ((published by QCA)
SoW: Unit 3D Rocks and Soils Year 3 (i.e. c8 year olds); approx 10 hours teaching time (i.e. approximately 1 hour per objective/outcome)
This builds upon units:

IC - Sorting and using materials (year 1 = 9 hours)
2D Grouping and changing materials (year 2 = 9 hours)

The SoW document for Rocks and Soils sets out in summary:

  • How the unit relates to other units and concepts e.g. to understand that rocks are naturally occurring

  • Typical vocabulary e.g. slate, marble, chalk, granite, sand, clay, rock, stone, pebble, texture, absorbent

  • Resources: (a) rocks including at least one permeable rock e.g. chalk, sandstone and one non-permeable rock e.g. granite, marble; (b) hand lenses, sieves, timers, measuring jugs, cylinders; (c) soil test containers; (d) samples of soils (e); support literature, media, CDs, pictures, etc.

  • Expectations: (grouped variously according to: (a) most children; (b) less able/more able children) in terms of describing and naming rocks, knowing that there are rocks (ultimately) below all surfaces. Be able to measure out time and quantities, explain that rocks are used for different purposes, appreciate fair/unfair tests/comparisons/soils are (in part) derived from rocks.

    Learning objectives/learning outcomes:

    • Identification of rocks and explanation of why, - on account of their properties - they are used for a particular purpose - e.g. slate for a roof.

    • Group rocks and justify the grouping system.

    • Ranking rocks according to properties by testing e.g. for "ease of wearing away" [attrition] and permeability and relate this to uses.

    • Explain why rocks are not always visible at surface.

    • Describe how soils differ, separate out components, ranking them from observation.

    • Make measurements e.g. of flow through various soil types

    • Explain fair/unfair test

    • Possible teaching activities: e.g.:

    • Review children's understanding of natural/non-natural materials.

    • Through a visit, look at local building materials.

    • Present a collection of rocks for study; asking children to choose a -criterion for grouping and then asking others to work out what this is.

    • Compare the ease with which rocks are physically weathered by undertaking (attrition) tests, recording results.

    • Test permeability.

    • Using secondary sources of information.

    • Examining pictures/video of cliffs, quarries, rocky mountains, muddy fields - ask where are the rocks; similarly with soils, comparing these with local soils.

    • Present different samples of soils - ask children to observe and record characteristics and components; sieve soil samples.

    • Look at the role of water/floods etc., on different surfaces, measure rates of permeability through clay, sand, etc.

    Points to note include:

    • Various safety measures - e.g. comply with school/LEA off site visit guidelines; eye protection, pointing out dangers in quarries, cliff tops, etc; soil samples must be free of sharp materials and dog faeces - hands must be washed afterwards.

    • Stones and pebbles are small pieces of rock; stone and rock are sometimes used interchangeably; particles are very small pieces of rock.

    • Colour of rocks should be examined.

    • Use different sizes of the same rock type.

    • Children are not expected to be able to recall all rock names.

    • Soils often have layers of different colours.

    • Some of the experiments are sequential.

Studying Rocks

The subject of rocks is now taken further to illustrate how it can be delivered in practical terms.

Rock Kits

ESTA and many other organisations produce rock kits but their usefulness varies considerably. Check the specimens are a reasonable size and reasonably representative of the type of rock being studied. Although there is no officially prescribed list of rocks (despite inferences to the contrary in some texts), a useful collection would contain representatives of the three main rock forming categories - sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic and within these might typically include:

Sedimentary: sandstone (x2), limestone (x2), shale or mudstone, conglomerate, clay, coal, chalk.

Igneous: basalt, granite, obsidian, pumice.

Metamorphic: slate, marble, schist and or gneiss, quartzite.

It should be noted that the rock texture and grain or crystal size, presence/absence of fossils, permeability, hardness are often more important than colour ('not all sandstones are red; not all limestones are cream') which usually varies with local iron content. This is one of the reasons for suggesting that two differing limestones and sandstones are included. Where possible also, (and where it is not too confusing), some locally occurring rocks should be included.

[Incidentally it should be noted that nowhere in the KS1/2 official documents is the term 'minerals' mentioned. As minerals are the essential building blocks from which rocks are made and children are required to study and record them in detail, it is difficult to see how for practical purposes, the term cannot be used!]

This can be supported and progressed, for example, using a publication produced by the Earth Science Teachers' Association (ESTA):

Activity Pack: Working with Rocks - containing:

Activity cards - rock cycle folder - building stone postcards - story book 'Christina's Story' (for literary hour - about weathering of a marble statue).

Extracts from the ESTA Rocks Activity Pack are now reproduced as an example.

The ESTA Activity Sheets cover:

Background briefing
Resource list
The Rock cycle

followed by six structured activities:

    1. Christina's story - literary strategy - reading comprehension strategies.

    2. Sorting rocks - using different criteria.

    3. Rock identification - extending from (2) above

    4. Testing for porosity/permeability and hardness i.e. extending from (3) above, including soaking rocks, "drilling holes" and making "wells".

    5. Weathering - freezing and thawing rocks, comparing porous and non-porous rocks, using weak acid to demonstrate chemical weathering and effects of acid rain.

    6. Town Trail - application of classroom learning to materials as used in local buildings, roads, pavements, memorials, etc.

Examples are reproduced below (activities 4 and 6). Please see copyright paragraph which appears at the top of this page.

ACTIVITY 4

Activity 4 (Testing Rocks) is available as a Word file (25kb)

TESTING ROCKS

A. Porosity/Permeability

Porosity is a measure of pore space between the grains in a rock, as a percentage of the whole volume of the rock.

Permeability is the measure of the flow of water through rocks, in metres per second.

The two are often confused.

Learning outcome:-

To be able to discover whether a rock is porous or not.
To link this characteristic to uses of rocks.

Resources:-

Worksheet D - porous rocks. Worksheet E - drilling holes and making wells.
Rock samples:

Porous

Non Porous

sandstone
chalk

granite, basalt
slate, marble

Dropper bottle or pipettes

Starting Off

Make sure of your porous rocks. (Some sandstones are not porous because the pore spaces between the grainsare filled with silica cement. Some rocks may appear to be slightly porous as water goes into cracks). The instructions for the investigation are on the worksheet. Teachers will need to demonstrate the use of the dropper bottles or pipettes.

Links to use of rocks

Non-porous slate for roofs.

Extension

Research - Find out about:-
Use of porous rocks for water supply e.g. Chalk in south east England; Red sandstone in the Midlands.
Non-porous layer of Chalk Marl is followed by the Channel Tunnel.

Further Extension

Making a Well - Linked to the above - for more able children.
Get the children to try this activity and link it to the questions on Worksheet E. Answer Question 1 before you start, - this links the two worksheets.

Resources:-

Pea gravel or sand; water; bucket, tube with holes in it.

What to do

(a) Stand the tube upright in the middle of the bucket and cover the top.
(b) Carefully scoop the sand or gravel into the bucket around the outside of the tube.
(c) Gently pour the water over the sand, away from the tube.

B. Hardness

Q.C.A. Unit 3D Rocks and soils suggests a rubbing test to compare how well different rock withstand being ground down and put in rank order.
Scratching with a nail will determine the hard rocks.

Links to use of rocks:-

Hard rocks are used extensively
e.g. buildings, railway ballast, roadstone. Granite is used for steps. Marble is used as it is easy to carve and is attractive.

© NSC/ESTA

WORKSHEET D

Worksheet D (Activity 4) is available as a Word file (27kb)

(Activity 4)

Name ………………………………...................................………… Date …………………………..

Porous Rocks

An experiment to find out which rocks are POROUS (water will soak into them).

Apparatus

Rock Samples, water, dropper

What to do

Put one drop of water on each rock sample in turn

Observe

What happens to the water

Record

Your results with a tick in the correct column in the table below

ROCK

POROUS

NON-POROUS

Granite (large coloured crystals)

 

 

Sandstone (red grains)

 

 

Marble (white, sugary crystals)

 

 

Slate (grey/purple, hard)

 

 

Basalt (black, tiny crystals)

 

 

Chalk (white, smooth)

 

 

Name the Porous rocks


Name the non-porous rocks



Can you think of another method which we could use to find out which rocks are porous? Write down your ideas.




© NSC/ESTA

WORKSHEET E

Worksheet E (Activity 4) is available as a Word file (24kb)

(Activity 4)

Name ………………………………...................................………… Date ……………………………

Drilling Holes and Making Wells

Answer this question before making your well.

1. If you drilled a borehole through the soil, deep into the layers of rock underneath, what would you find in the hole if the rock was sandstone or chalk? Keep in mind your results from worksheet D.




Now Make your Well - (your teacher will help)

2. (a) What happens to the water?


2. (b) Can you suggest where the water has gone?



2. (c) Take the cover off the tube and look in. What do you see?


3. Do you think that sandstone and chalk are good rocks for supplying water?___________

Explain your answer.



© NSC/ESTA

Activity 6

Activity 6 (Town Trail) is available as a Word file (27kb)

Town Trail

The Town Trail should draw together the skills the children have learnt through the various classroom activities on rocks.

Learning Outcome:

to develop an understanding of the relationships between the properties and the use of rocks and other materials;
to begin to discriminate between natural and manufactured materials.

Vocabulary:

as in activity 2, with the addition of terms relating to buildings.

Resources:

clipboard and paper
large scale street plan/map
building materials reference sheet adapted to suit your locality
building stones postcards
magnifiers

Starting off:-

We can study rocks outdoors simply by looking at the school buildings around us. This can then be extended to include local neighbourhood, especially shops. Apart from timber, almost all materials used in buildings can eventually be traced back to rocks. This activity is a practical extension/follow up to the previous activities.
Materials used in buildings, pavements, roads, walls and other features can be observed and recorded on sheets or cards (to suit your requirements) and plotted on large-scale town plans. Suitable teacher preparation should include walking around and planning the trail yourself, and deciding on the best method for your children to record the information. You can then take the children to appropriate local sites.

On the Trail:-

1. Let the children examine and describe materials. Plot the sites on street plans.
2. Prompt (see ( i) below) them to identify the types of material using knowledge from previous activities, together with the reference sheet and postcards.
3. Follow up - back in the classroom - relate the properties of the materials observed to their uses (see (ii) below).

Additional Information for Help and Guidance

(i) When observing the detail of the materials, the following prompts can be used for guidance. (Don't forget magnifier).

Feel

rough, smooth, glassy, sugary

Colour

don't forget shades

Condition

fresh or weathered

Texture

interlocking crystals or cemented grains

Size

of crystals/grains

Natural Stone

polished or natural/rough

Aggregate

(crushed fragments, stuck together) composition

Manufactured material

cement, concrete, plastic, asphalt

(ii) Uses of Materials

  • Comment on the use of certain materials for important buildings, eg. churches, shops, banks.
  • Mateirals may show the effects of weathering, e.g. sandstone, limestone, concrete. Others may be hard-wearing, e.g. granite, basalt, slate.
  • Manufactured materials may be just as prone to weathering, e.g. bricks, flake, concrete cracks, and is affected by acid rain.

© NSC/ESTA

Activity 6

Activity 6 (Town Trail) reference sheet is available as a Word file (28kb)

TOWN TRAIL - BUILDING MATERIALS REFERENCE SHEET

Many local rocks have been used as building materials, the most suitable are cut and dressed to form regular blocks. Slate was normally used for roofing. The best rocks for building were both hard and durable, and resisted attack by weathering. Today most buildings contain a lot of processed materials such as bricks and tiles made from fired clay-rich rocks, some rocks may be broken down as aggregates or processed. Limestone can be crushed, mixed with shale and heated to make cement. Aggregates mixed with cement make concrete which is used in many buildings or with bitumen, to make asphalt for roads.

Item

Natural Rocks

Manufactured Material

Buildings

Roof

Slate

Clay tiles, concrete tiles

Walls

Rough Stone

Sandstone, limestone

Brick, breeze block, concrete, plaster board

 

Cut/dressed

Granite

 

Polished facing slabs

Granite, limestone, basalt, marble

Floor/steps

Polished slabs

Sandstone, limestone, basalt, marble, granite

Clay tiles, bricks, plastic

Foundations

 

Concrete

Frame

 

Steel girders

Paving

Cobbles

Granite, basalt, sandstone

  

Kerbstones

Granite, basalt, sandstone

Concrete

Pavements

Sandstone (flagstone)

Concrete

Block paving

 

Bricks

Bollards

 

Concrete, iron

Roads/Car Parks

Surface

 

Asphalt or concrete

Base made of aggregates

e.g. Crushed limestone, basalt, sandstone, granite

 

Ornamental

Including Sculptures, Gravestones, Memorials

Granite, basalt, marble, sandstone, limestone

Cast metal

The lesson plan reproduced below, prepared by a practising teacher (Stewart Taylor) covers a particular aspect of Unit 3D SoW, in particular, considering whether a test is fair/making comparisons/the basis for conclusions

Year Group

3

Class

Subject

Teacher

Time

2 hrs

Date

Other Adults

 

Experimental and investigative work focuses

Considering whether a test is fair
Making comparisons
Drawing and suggesting explanations for conclusions

Pupil Information

Use of support Staff

Context

Pupils should know that rocks have many different types and can be used for different things. Steer away from the correct names at first as this often clouds pupils' ability to experiment and observe. QCA Unit 3D Rocks and Soils. NC. Sc3 materials and properties (Grouping and classifying materials d To describe and group rocks and soils on the basis of their characteristics, including appearance, texture and permeability.

Introduction

Present pupils with a selection of different rocks. Identify them by number, letter or even names like Fred or Lucy so that pupils can talk about them. Discuss differences and similarities. How can we describe them Bring in lots of descriptive vocabulary including shape and arrangement of particles? For lower ability pupils put vocabulary prompt sheets on the table or wall.

Activities (Page references are to Activities in "Working with Rocks")

Observe and test differences between rocks and group them according to observations. Start each child with one sample.

  • Pupils draw in detail, using the magnifying lens, part of the rock surface (note the colour/s). Avoid children drawing the exterior shape of the sample unless it has a direct link to its structure. Repeat with samples of other types of rock (p9. Steps 1 & 2 on Activity sheet C).
  • Pupils sort the rocks into groups and explain their reasons. (Now could be an appropriate time to introduce the proper name of each rock. Pupils identify using tickets on p10 of W.W.R.)
  • Pupils put a drop of water on the surface of each sample. What happens? pp11-12 (The water is absorbed more quickly in to some rocks than into others.) Can the rocks be sorted by this test?
  • Pupils put a drop of diluted descaling solution onto each sample. What happens? (rocks containing calcium carbonate such as limestone should fizz) Can the rocks be sorted by this test?
  • As an extension, pupils can devise a test to see which rocks resist being ground down

Plenary

Were all the tests fair tests?
Discuss the characteristics of the rocks and how these could be important in finding ways to use the rock.
Follow with a more detailed lesson about uses, possible including a school or town trail. P15

Key questions

Key Vocabulary

Why are they grouped in a certain way
What characteristics are useful p16

Rough, smooth, metallic, crystals, grains, colour words. Absorb texture. Similar, different. Slate, limestone, granite, sandstone, coal, marble, chalk. And any other rock type being used.

Resources

ESTA 'Working with Rocks Pack'. Rocks, including at least one permeable rock, e.g. chalk, sandstone. And one non-permeable rock. Granite, marble. (ESTA rock kit is an excellent resource), Hand lenses. Water dropper. Dropper with very dilute descaling solution.