Rocks can change due to environmental conditions. A mobile is a great way to help visualize the rock cycle.
Mobiles are a popular school project assignment for children of all ages. These free-moving sculptures, made to hang from a ceiling or window, are often used to depict different scientific processes in an easy-to-comprehend, visual format. In order to create a mobile of the rock cycle, which demonstrates environmental changes that affect the composition of rocks, it's important to understand the rock cycle itself. Once crafters feel confident in their ability to explain the rock cycle, making a mobile becomes a creative crafting project.
Instructions
1. Reference a chart of the rock cycle to gain an understanding of what the mobile will depict. Rock cycle charts are available online, or by referencing a science textbook.
2. Cut a cardboard circle approximately 12 inches in diameter. Poke a hole in each quadrant of the circle, near the outside perimeter, using scissors or a hole punch. Loop a 12- to 18-inch piece of string through each hole and secure it with a simple knot. Gather the four strings at the top and tie them all together. Attach one additional piece of string at the connecting knot. Secure this string to the center of the wire hanger. The cardboard circle should now be securely dangling from the hanger.
3. Following the rock cycle chart, trace and cut out icons for each element of the cycle: igneous rock, metamorphic rock, sedimentary rock, sediment and magma. Use gray construction paper to represent the types of rock, red for the magma and brown to illustrate sediment. Decorate the paper and label it according to the cycle chart. Cut out arrows to represent the different processes within the cycle, including cooling, melting, weathering and erosion, heat and pressure and compaction. Use a different color for each process arrow and label them with a marker.
4. Staple each construction paper element and arrow to an 8- to 12-inch piece of string. Punch enough holes in a circular pattern around the mobile's cardboard disc to accommodate all of the elements of the rock cycle. Including the process arrows, you should have approximately fifteen holes. Arrange the holes in a manner that will allow the elements to be displayed in a pattern similar to that of the rock cycle chart.
5. Thread the string of each rock cycle element through the hole where it will hang. Secure the string to the top of the cardboard disc using a piece of tape. Check the final product to make sure that each piece of the rock cycle is hanging in the correct location, according to the chart. Reposition any elements that may be out of place.
6. Hang the completed mobile from a hook on the ceiling or inside of a windowsill.
Tags: rock cycle, cycle chart, piece string, rock cycle, cardboard circle, cardboard disc, construction paper