Natalie+Andryk+Rock+Cycle

Since I have been fortunate to re-enter the teaching profession with technology, I am teaching many of the 3rd grade lessons for the first time with the use of my Smartboard. I have found it to be extremely useful in the area of Science. Some of the concepts in the Rocks and Minerals Unit are difficult to teach and there is alot of vocabulary for the kids to retain. I used these Smartboard lessons to reinforce these concepts and the experiments done in class. I have a very active group, consisting of 4 girls and 13 boys. They are captivated by the Smartboard and are much more engaged in my lessons when I use it interactively. My students demonstrated a great understanding of my objectives for this unit. I hope you find these lessons to be helpful to you.

Lesson 1 - Introduction to Rocks and Minerals This lessons starts with activating prior knowledge about rocks. I pose questions on the Smartboard for the kids to discuss with their elbow partners. I have a student recorder write ideas on the board for me. We continue the discussion with what we know and what we want to know about rocks. I then teach Lesson 1 from the Einstein kit which focuses on the properties of rocks. We fill in a chart together on the Smartboard about the similarities and differences we observed in 3 rocks. Finally, we read a statement together on the Smartboard that summarizes the lesson and we watch a Bill Nye music video entitled __Rocks Rock Harder__.

Lesson 2 - Introduction to the Rock Cycle and Types of Rocks This lesson begins with an introduction to each type of rock: sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. A definition, photos of each type of rock and a link to an interactive site showing the changes each type of rock go through in the Rock Cycle is included. I provide a diagram of the rock cycle that my students can manipulate to label each step in the cycle. The final page of the lesson takes my students to an interactive link where they can make a rock collection with the different types of rocks we have discussed so far.

Lesson 3 - Introduction to the Layers of the Earth The students are asked, "Do you ever wonder what's inside the Earth?" After discussing it with a partner, we record our thoughts on the Smartboard. Using a peach, I cut it in half to expose the inside, explaining that the skin is like the crust of the Earth, the meat is like the mantle and the pit is like the core of the Earth. Then I display page 2 of my lesson to show a diagram of a peach and each of it's layers as they relate to the layers of the Earth. I then show a diagram of a cross section of the Earth with each layer and it's description labeled. As we watch a Youtube rap video entitled, __Layers of the Earth,__ I have the kids raise their hand every time they hear a layer of the Earth mentioned. Finally, I scramble the properties of each layer and have the kids drag each property back to it's correct layer of the Earth.