One thing Kindergarten students love to do is collect rocks! They examine all the amazing attributes - color, shape, size, “sparkle” - and tend to pack them in their pockets at the end of recess. They seem to be natural geologists.
The unit begins with some foundational content for students to build a foundation.
The geology of the Earth is a fascinating subject of study. Whether it is identifying rocks along the road or in our backyards or the threat of climate change, geology is a major part of our everyday lives. Geology includes everything from the study of rocks and minerals to Earth's history and the effects of natural disasters on society. To understand it and what geologists study, we’ll look at the basic elements that make up the science of geology. Geology is the study of the Earth and everything that makes up the planet. To understand the smaller elements that geologists study, we must first look at the bigger picture, the makeup of the Earth itself. Beneath the stony crust lies the rocky mantle and, at Earth's heart, the iron core. All are areas of active research and competing theories.2
Among these theories is that of plate tectonics. This one attempts to explain the large-scale structure of the Earth's crust and mantle. When the tectonic plates move, mountains and volcanoes are formed, earthquakes occur, and other shifts in the planet can happen. The geologic timescale gives geologists a way to map Earth's history. Through the study of land formations and fossils, they can put together the story of the planet. New discoveries can make increasingly refined changes to the timeline. This is divided into a series of eons and eras that help us further understand what previously occurred on Earth.
Rocks form the basis for solid-Earth geology, though they are not always hard or completely solid. There are three types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. They differ from one another by how they are formed. By learning what makes each unique, you are one step closer to being able to identify rocks. What is even more interesting is that these rocks are related. Geologists use the "rock cycle" to explain how many rocks transform from one category to another.3
Essential questions students may consider during this unit:
What can we learn from identifying what is “under our feet”?
How will this information help us?
How did it all get there?
Can we “see” what is under the ground? How can we do that?
Why is important for us to know this?
