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My Rock Family Misconception

Summary

Teachers will review the 4th grade lesson from day 1. Teachers will discuss and create a list of misconceptions. The teachers will then create solutions that they can use in their classrooms.


Materials

Sticky Notes


Background for Teachers

Websites


Student Prior Knowledge

Review the lesson from Day 1-Everything is created of atoms. When atoms are put together in an organized fashion they form minerals. When two or more minerals are combined, they form rocks.


Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Use Science Process and Thinking Skills
e. Use instruments to measure length, temperature, volume, and weight using appropriate units g. Develop and use simple classification systems.

4. Communicate Effectively Using Science Language and Reasoning
c. Use scientific language appropriate to grade level in oral and written communication.


Instructional Procedures

Timeframe:

This is a review of the lesson from day one.

Day 1 45 min. Atom demonstration from mineral to rock. Student kinesthetic model. Separate piles of rocks and minerals.

Day 2 45 min. Demonstration of 3 types of rocks: igneous melted crayon metamorphic starburst and sedimentary limestone formation Sort 10 igneous sedimentary and metamorphic Describe sedimentary rock and math activity psi area formula and x multi step word problem.

Day 3 45 min. 3 Paragraph story of journey of atom. Share & respond. Jeopardy PPT.

Day 1: 20 minutes

Review lesson from day one.

Misconception Prezi

Teachers line up in order of birthstone (display birthstone graphic). Pair up with someone who shares your stone. (If you are alone in your stone, find another singleton.)

Pairs will write two misconceptions on post-it notes they anticipate their students having related to this lesson. The person with the most jewelry on shares first.

Switch and post. Facilitator categorizes post-it notes on first half of misconceptions/strategies poster or board.

Read possible misconceptions aloud and ask participants to listen for new ideas they hadn't thought of. Display question:

  • How could you pre-assess to find out if these misconceptions indeed exist among students?
After pre-assessment, we should have solutions in place. Think about this question (display), and be prepared to share one idea. The first half of the birthstone list (left column) form a circle. The second half form an inside circle, facing a partner in the outside circle.
  • How could you plan to address and clear up these types of misconceptions while building background in the lesson?
Set 90(?) second timer, rotate each line two people to the right. Repeat 3-4 times. Participants may share the same strategy each time, or another idea they heard from a different partner.

Share strategies gathered with your table. Each table posts 3 posts strategies for addressing misconceptions on the opposite side of the misconception/strategy board, stemming from your inside-outside circle debriefing.

What students think:

  1. Rocks and minerals are the same thing.
  2. All rocks take a long time to make.
  3. All igneous rocks are made from lava.
  4. If it's the same color it's the same rock.
  5. There are fossils in all rocks.
  6. All spotted rocks (rocks with different bits in it) are sedimentary.
  7. When rocks become sand that is the end of the rock cycle (The rock cycle has an end.)
  8. Weathering and erosion are the same thing.
  9. Erosion is always bad (or always good).
  10. Weathering and erosion doesn't affect me, it only affects rocks in the mountains.
  11. Soil is made mostly of dirt which is rocks. (It doesn't include air or organic material.) Plants need to be planted in soil to grow. (This is a second grade misconception that may hang on into fourth grade.)

What is fact:

  1. Minerals are the building blocks of rocks.
  2. Some rocks (such as obsidian or pumice) can made very quickly.
  3. Igneous rocks can be made inside the earth (intrusive) or by coming out of the earth (extrusive).
  4. Different rocks can exhibit different color variations. You may need to use other indicators to decide what kind of rock it is.
  5. Sedimentary rock is much more likely to include fossils.
  6. The spots or bits in rocks can be crystals, or other minerals that have connected together in metamorphic or igneous rocks as they formed.
  7. The rocks in the rock cycle are the same rocks that have been on earth forever, and will be the same ones going through the rock cycle in the future.
  8. Weathering is the process by which rocks are broken down, erosion is the process that moves rock particles. Often they happen simultaneously.
  9. Erosion can be good or bad depending on where it occurs. For example, erosion can build up soils (such in river deltas) that aid plant growth, or it can destroy foundations of homes built near rivers or oceans.
  10. Weathering and erosion happen everywhere there is weather.
  11. Soil contains air, organic material, and particles of sand, silt, or clay along with water.
  12. Plants need nutrients to grow and can obtain them from either soil or other media generally in the presence of water.

Teachers could create their own PowerPoint and start their own rock collections.

  • Create a dichotomous key for rocks and minerals.
  • Take a rock cycle walk.
  • "Everybody Needs a Rock" Picture book
  • Pet Rock
  • Adopt a Rock


Extensions

Attachments


Bibliography

U.S. Geological Survey

www.visitvulcan.com

Rock Hounds

Delta Science Content Readers "Minerals, Rocks, and Fossils" School Specialty Science www.deltaeducation.com MargaretOstler@schoolspecialty.com ISBN 978-1-60395-387-0 1-800-338-5270 x 167


Created: 04/26/2013
Updated: 06/22/2022
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