Hands-on earth science activities both teach and facilitate fun.
Earth science lends itself to hands-on activities, and they're the kinds of activities that kids just don't forget what they learned because they're intensely engaging, driven by curiosity and require practical application. Discovering the science behind volcanoes and measuring gravitational force can all be accomplished using kid-friendly activities and materials found right in their own back yards.
Folds, Faults and Tectonic Plates
Students can discover the art of folds in rocks as they result in layered effects. Using Play-Doh or modeling clay to represent layers of rock, examine folds as they occur naturally in certain rocks such as the colors found in granite. Layer four different colors of the dough, laying them out horizontally, placing the oldest layer on top. Combine flour, oil, salt, water, cream tarter and food coloring to make four different colors created by cooking the ingredients. Fold the resulting dough and then refrigerate it. Once it is cooled, shave the top off to examine its interior or "anticline" of layered dough, a blended fold of colors.
Gravity and Rocket Science
Gravitational forces that represent change in motion are hubs for gravity and rocketing science. G forces make your stomach flop when riding on a roller coaster. Students can make a simple accelerator to measure gravitational force as it changes direction and speed. Create a sinker and accelerator using a cardboard tube from a paper towel roll, rubber bands fish sinkers, cardboard, scissors, marker pens and masking tape. Students hold the accelerator out straight in front of themselves as they jump as high as they can in place and watch the sinker as it moves about, indicating on the accelerometer how much gravity occurred with each jump.
Volcanoes and Gelatin
Examine molten rock as it erupts to cause volcanoes and lava plains, along with its climb up from the ground to erupt. Watch how the lava travels -- in tubes or pipes -- and what it encounters along the climb up to the earth's planetary surface. Gelatin activity is loss of heat during a volcanic eruption as the magma cools and solidifies. The resulting magma after years of activity is what causes the volcano. Mold gelatin to model volcanic landforms using colored water for the dikes that form the magma. Create dikes by slicing through the gelatin as it reshapes itself to create resistance to the opening. This is much like a volcanic eruption with its narrowness providing less resistance to erupt at the end of each slice in the gelatin casts, spilling out into what would be volcanic lava. Be careful not to rush the water too quickly and cause a straight line of fluid void of a dike formation. Use colored water to imitate the dike's formation and resulting eruption as it forms magma. Students can observe its formation all the way to eruption. They'll also have fun eating the gelatin when finished.
Discovering and Describing Rocks and Minerals
Students study minerals while learning about identify and classify them. After a class discussion about describing and classifying minerals, students work in teams to apply the process to mineral samples. Using a minerals worksheet, they'll identify minerals using their team mineral set, filling in a description for each mineral in the set. Use a magnifying glass to get a close-up view of each mineral. Another discussion can ensue about luster, and looking for luster in the shininess of each rock. Nonmetallic luster is associated with terms like "glassy, brilliant and pearly." Students use their mineral sets to identify each type of luster and record the observations, as well as apply a scratch test using their fingernails and a penny. Scratching each rock will give them information about its degree of hardness ranking it from 1 to 10, with 1 being the softest and 10 being the hardest.
Tags: colored water, different colors, dike formation, each mineral, each rock, four different, four different colors