blogdeteacherAna: MAKE YOUR OWN 3 TYPES OF ROCKS / DEMONSTRATE THE ROCK CYCLE

Hey, ready for a project? Well, here you go!

You can create your own sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks! You can use crayons, jelly beans... Let me show you!

1. Simulating the rock cycle with CRAYONS

1. Grate or chop the crayons into small pieces, keeping the colours separate. (PENCIL SHARPENER IS SAFER!)

This represents weathering and erosion.

2. Sprinkle a layer of each colour crayon into a small piece of tin foil.

This is the laying down of sediments.

Fold up the foil (or put another piece on top) and press down on it very hard.

This simulates the pressure that creates sedimentary rock.

Unwrap your foil and examine your sedimentary rock.

3. Rewrap your squished crayon (sedimentary rock) and heat it by dunking it in very hot water for a few moments, then squish it some more. You could also use other metamorphic crayon-rocks or igneous crayon-rocks to make your metamorphic rock.

This represents heat and extreme pressure inside the Earth, which creates metamorphic rock.

4. Rewrap your heated, squished “metamorphic rock”. This time dunk it in the very hot water for long enough for the crayon to melt completely. Alternatively, briefly hold your foil packet in a candle flame which will melt your crayon more quickly. (Again, you can also use sedimentary or igneous crayon-rocks to make igneous crayon-rocks.)

The melted then cooled crayon represents igneous rock.

We let some of our melted crayons cool slowly, as would happen when magma cools slowly inside the Earth to create intrusive igneous rocks. We dunked other melted crayons (in their foil packet) in icy water to represent the fast cooling that takes place when lava cools outside the Earth, creating extrusive igneous rocks.

2. Starburst rocks (SUGUS)

The first rock we made was the SEDIMENTARY ROCK. The kids cut up their three Starburst candies with scissors. Some made tiny pieces, others were happy with just cutting them into quarters. Then, we pressed the "sediments" together to make a sedimentary rock.

We then warmed up our "rocks" in our hands and by blowing on them. It didn't take long for the candy to get warm! We folded it a few times and we had METAMORPHIC ROCKS!