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The Rock Cycle This packet was made by Liesl

©homeschoolden.com

Feel free to make as many copies as you need for your kids or the students in your

classroom.

This file may not be uploaded to any file sharing website.

You will see there are several different options that you can print out and use with your

students. Choose the one the will work best for you!

The first page (on page 2) was put together by me. The other illustrations are courtesy of

Wikimedia Commons.

Starting on page 9 you’ll find some of the hands-on activities we did to help the kids

understand rocks and how they form.

Heat and

Pressure

Heat and

Pressure

Weathering and Erosion

Weathering and Erosion

Melting

Cooling

Cooling Igneous Rocks

Metamorphic Rocks Sedimentary Rocks

Magma

Volcano

Compact and Cement

The Rock Cycle

©homeschoolden.com

Sediment

The Rock Cycle

Name: ___________________________________

Explain the rock cycle:

Name: ___________________________________

The Rock Cycle

1. _______________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________________

4. _______________________________________________________________

5. _______________________________________________________________

6. _______________________________________________________________

7. _______________________________________________________________

8. _______________________________________________________________

9. _______________________________________________________________

1. magma; 2. crystallization (freezing of rock); 3. igneous rocks; 4. erosion; 5. sedimentation; 6. sediments and sedimentary rocks; 7. tectonic burial and metamorphism; 8. metamorphic rocks; 9. melting.

The Rock Cycle

The Rock Cycle

Rocks and the Rock Cycle Activities

For the past week or so, we have been talking about the three types of rocks and the rock cycle. (It's free to

download down below.) What is great about these activities is that they will work with a huge age range... from

PreK up through elementary!

As we started our unit, we read several books about rocks together. I really recommend

Geology Rocks!: 50 Hands-On Activities to Explore the Earth. (affiliate link) It had a

lot of really fun ideas. We got it first from the library years ago, but then I wound up

purchasing it to have on hand!

We got a number of other books, but the one I highly recommend is Smithsonian Handbooks: Rocks &

Minerals because of all the beautiful photos.

Sedimentary Rock Activity:

Our first activity was about sedimentary rocks.

We used a clear, plastic cup (though a glass jar would work just fine too). I cut an index card so that it would

fit down into the cup (because the plastic cup was wider at the top).

We took a bag of dried rice and colored it with food dye. (The rice was uncooked.)

Next, the kids spooned different colors into the cup, equally on both sides of the index cards.

Then, gently (remind the kids to be very gentle and not to pull the card out of the rice!) have them move the

card up and down slightly to imitate an earthquake. The layers will shift and slide! That's really easy to see

with brightly dyed layers!

We read a book specifically about sedimentary rocks called How Do Water

and Wind Change Rocks: A Look at Sedimentary Rocks which does a good

job of explaining how sediment forms and washes away. Then explains how

that sediment turns into rock through pressure/compacting and cementing. It

goes on to talk about how wind, water, and weathering affect sedimentary

rocks.

Next, we went on to talk about igneous rocks. We read How Do Volcanoes Make Rocks: A Look at Igneous

Rocks. I brought out some of the rock samples we have and they looked at obsidian, pumice, granite, and

basalt. (See those resources below.) We talked about how igneous rocks can form above ground (when a

volcano erupts) or below ground, when magma cools under the surface.

One of the days while we were reading, the girls "made" their own sedimentary layers out of different colored

play dough. Then, they took a spatula and applied "pressure" to create their sedimentary rock.

Igneous Rocks:

The kids knew about volcanoes and igneous rocks, but we read How Do Volcanoes Make Rocks: A Look at

Igneous Rocks. The activity we did for igneous rock was to take pieces of red, bright yellowish-orange, orange

crayons and pile them on top of one another on a paper plate. Then, we put them in the microwave for 3 or 4

minutes. We brought them out and then ED moved the plate around to watch the colors swirl. The crayons

cooled quickly... just as magma cools as it flows out onto Earth's surface. :)

Metamorphic Rock Activities:

Next, we were on to metamorphic rocks. We read Baking and Crushing: A Look at Metamorphic Rocks which

did a really good job explaining how sedimentary and igneous rock changes into metamorphic rocks through

heat and/or pressure. It has good illustrations that show how magma can ooze into cracks and heat the rocks

around it. It also explains how earth's movement affects rocks. It has pictures of some of the rocks that change:

sandstone (changes to) - quarzite; shale to slate; basalt to schist, etc.

Our metamorphic rock activity was also with crayons. First, we shaved/cut up pieces of crayon. Then, we put

those shavings into layers in a small medicine cup.

ED applied pressure first with her thumb... and then with a hammer to "form" sedimentary rock.

Heat in microwave

Once

it was cool, we popped it out of the medicine cup. TaDa! Metamorphic Rock!

One day, we brought out our rock chart and put the cards in place. It also has a section that talks about how to

identify rocks and minerals: texture, streak, hardness, luster, color. We brought out various rock samples and

examined those.

We spent time look at samples that change to metamorphic rock (like the granite an igneous rock that that

changes into gneiss):

Rock Cycle: Finally, we talked about the rock cycle. We read What is the Rock Cycle? which is was really well

done. It was a good one to wrap up our unit.

We talked about how rocks and change into different forms and we went over the Rock Cycle notebook pages

that I put together for the kids.

We have studied rocks and minerals several times over the years. We have a number of different rock sets and I

highly recommend that you have rocks on hand for your studies.

We got a rock kit with different samples of sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous

rocks. We got the small version (with 15 rocks): American Educational Introductory

Rock Collection

The large kit with 75 rocks and minerals looked really great: Introductory Earth

Science Classroom Rocks and Minerals Collection For a rocks and minerals unit for

older kids, I would probably got with this because it has at least 25 minerals, 6 or 7

ores, and samples of the sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks.

There is also a set of posters about Rocks and Minerals

that would work well for a classroom unit on rocks and

minerals. (16 inches x 22 inches) These have really

good reviews.

Rock Cycle Song (to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”):

Sedimentary rock

Has been formed in layers

Often found near water sources

With fossils from decayers

Then there’s igneous rock

Here since Earth was born

Molten Lava, cooled and hardened

That’s how it is formed

These two types of rocks

Can also be transformed

With pressure, heat and chemicals

Metamorphic they’ll become

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Rock Cycle Song (to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”):

Sedimentary rock

Has been formed in layers

Often found near water sources

With fossils from decayers

Then there’s igneous rock

Here since Earth was born

Molten Lava, cooled and hardened

That’s how it is formed

These two types of rocks

Can also be transformed

With pressure, heat and chemicals

Metamorphic they’ll become

I’m sorry to say I can’t find the exact link to this song, so if you know who I should give credit to let me know.

Other Free Rocks and Minerals Resources on the blog:

We have a free set of worksheets about the three types of rocks.

We also have a free packet about Rocks and Minerals (some of them were made for my

daughter when she was in PreK and my other two were in elementary).

You might also be interested in these packets:

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Human Body Systems (25 pages)

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Circulatory Packet (40 pages)

States of Matter Packet (50 pages)

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Winter Packet: Earth’s Axis/Seasons, The Arctic vs.

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Dinosaur Packet 60+ Page Packet For ages 3-7 (60+ pages)