Rock Cycle Lab - Weebly



8th Grade Integrated

Standard 3: Objective 2, Indicator a

Title: Rock Cycle Crayon Lab

Description: Usually it’s a hard concept for students to imagine that over millions of year one kind of rock will change into another kind of rock. This lab allows students to see the changes taking place, and learn important qualities of each type of rock and how they are formed.

Materials Needed: crayons, penny, paper towel, aluminum foil, aluminum pie tin, 3 plastic cups (one with ice water, one with warm water, and one empty), ice, alcohol burners, text books.

Time Needed: 50 minutes

Safety issues or specialized background knowledge:

Students will be working with alcohol burners and molten wax, make sure all fire safety precautions are reviewed.

Teacher Procedures:

1. Have all supplies ready before the lab and make sure that you have many different colored crayons. The more opposite the colors the better the lab results.

2. HOOK - Ask students the question “What makes you and your brothers and sisters related?” Expect answers like “we have the same parents or we look alike.” (Be careful about singling a student out because some may not have siblings, or may be adopted). Follow up with the question “Can two different rocks be related?” Answers here may vary, and they time you spend in discussion about this is up to you. Hold up two different kinds of rocks that can directly turn from one to another on the rock cycle like limestone and marble (sedimentary and metamorphic) and review with the students similarities and differences between the rocks and ask, “How can these two rocks can be related?”

3. Explain that relation in rocks is not the same as relation in humans, animals, and plants. For rocks, it all depends on what the environment does to the rock and has nothing to do with parents. Today we are going to see what can happen to the characteristics of rocks as their environment changes.

4. In rocks, this process can take anywhere from minutes to millions of years depending on the kind of rock being made. It also requires temperatures and pressures that are impossible to contain here in the classroom. In place of rocks we are going to use crayons because the temperatures, pressures, and effects are just perfect for classroom use.

5. Hand out the lab and read over all the instructions. There are questions, diagrams, and descriptions to do for just about every step so make sure the students see that.

6. Be ready for some anything with the burners out, watch for students off task.

Scoring Rubric or answer key:

1. Procedure 3 answer: sedimentary

2. Procedure 4 answer: metamorphic

3. Procedure 5 answer: igneous

Analysis questions 1-9

1. No, the shavings were not the same size or shape as before because we broke them down with the penny.

2. The weathering agent was the penny. 3 weathering agents in nature are: water, wind, gravity, ice wedging, plants, etc.

3. Rock sediments erode from gravity, water, wind, animals, etc.

4. Rock sediments are deposited at the bottom of mountains, beaches, river deltas, etc.

5. They are stuck together by cementation.

6. A sedimentary rock needs a cementing agents and metamorphic rocks need heat and a lot of pressure.

7. Igneous rocks are different depending on how they cool from a molten state. Molten rock cooling in water cool very fast and crystals are small. Molten rock cooling in a warmer area cool slower and have larger crystals.

8. The different igneous rock samples are the same because they all came from molten rock. They are different because the size and shape of the cooled wax are very different (representing different sized crystals)

9. (This is mostly for review)

|Rock Type |3 Characteristics |Formation |Drawing |

|Sedimentary |Layered |Weathering | |

| |Fossils |Erosion | |

| |Conglomerates |Deposition | |

| | |Cementation | |

|Metamorphic |Smooth |Heat and Pressure | |

| |Stripes | | |

| |Small crystals | | |

|Igneous |Small to Medium Crystals |Melting and Cooling | |

| |Glassy | | |

| |Large Holes | | |

Rock Cycle Crayon Lab

_________

Name ___________________________________________________________ Period __________

Purpose: To observe the rock cycle through a series of simulation activities.

Materials: 2 (or more) crayons of different colors per group, pencil sharpener/scissors, paper towel, aluminum foil, aluminum pie tin, 3 Beakers (one with ice water, one with warm water, and one empty), ice, hot plate, tongs, dividers.

Procedure & Data:

1. Using the scissors or pencil sharpener, weather (shave) your crayon onto the paper towel.

• Describe AND Draw the crayon after weathering:

2. Now, each group member erode (move) and deposit your weathered crayon onto a piece of aluminum foil in a neat pile. Make sure to leave some shavings on the paper towel to be used later in step 5.

• Describe AND Draw the weathered crayon:

3. Carefully fold the loose layers of crayon shavings inside the aluminum foil. Compact and cement the layers by placing a wooden divider on top of the folded aluminum foil. Then remove the wooden divider and unwrap the aluminum foil. Remove a piece of the crayon and set it aside.

What kind of rock does the crayon represent? ___________________________________________

• Describe AND Draw the crayon after compaction and cementation:

4. Rewrap the tin foil and using tongs 1 member of your group will carry it over to one of the hot plates and set it on the hot plate (which should be on low) for 5 sec and then flip it over. As soon as it is removed from the heat put it on the floor and place the wooden divider on top of it and stand on it for 15 seconds. After it is cool remove the divider, unwrap the foil and remove a piece of the crayon and set it aside.

What kind of rock does the crayon now represent? _________________________________________

• Describe AND Draw the crayon after intense heat and pressure:

5. Put the remainder of the crayon shavings from each group member into the aluminum pie tin.( These are the shavings that should still be on your paper towel) Heat the pie pan over the hot plate until the crayon shavings are melted. Don’t let them smoke!!!! Pour a little bit of melted crayon into the 3 different cups. One with ice water, one with warm water and one without water. Let the crayon cool for a few minutes.

What kind of rock does the cooling crayon represent? ______________________________________________

• Describe AND Draw the melted and cooled crayon:

o Ice water crayon –

o Warm water crayon –

o No water crayon –

Analysis:

1. When you weather the crayon, were the shavings the same size or shape as before? Why?

2. What was the weathering agent in the lab? What are 3 different weathering agents in nature?

3. How do rock sediments erode (move) in nature?

4. Where are rock sediments usually deposited in nature?

5. How are rock sediments put together to form a sedimentary rock?

6. What was the difference between making a sedimentary rock and making a metamorphic rock?

7. How do the different temperatures of water represent the different types of igneous rocks?

8. How are the different samples of igneous rock the same? How are they different?

9. Fill out the table below using what you learned from the lab.

|Rock Type |3 Characteristics |Formation |Drawing |

|Sedimentary | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

|Metamorphic | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

|Igneous | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

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