Four Winds Nature Institute 4 Casey Rd. Chittenden, VT 05737 802-353-9440 www.fourwindsinstitute.org Earth – ROCKS – Puppet Show (Revised from Hands-on Nature) Characters: Teacher, Grandma Granite, Sandy Sandstone, Maggie Marble. Props: small box of rocks, slice of white bread, slice of wheat bread, peanut butter or cream cheese, jelly, spreaders, rolling pin, paper plate, towel for cleanup. Teacher I’m so excited. I’m teaching a unit on rocks for the first time. I’ll just look through this box of rocks to get some teaching ideas. Grandma Granite May I be of some help? Teacher A talking rock? I can’t believe it. Is this some kind of a joke? Granite Certainly not. Let me introduce myself. I’m Grandma Granite. I’m igneous and proud of it! Teacher Oh my, I’ve never met a talking rock before. You must be a genius. Granite Not a genius, dear! I said I’m igneous. An igneous rock! Teacher Oh, I am sorry, Grandma. As you can see, I have a lot to learn about rocks. Just what is an igneous rock? Granite Igneous rocks are formed deep inside the earth where it’s very hot. Why it’s more than ten times hotter than boiling water. Imagine that! We rocks just melt when it gets that hot, and we turn into molten magma. Then, when we cool we become, well, rock hard! Teacher I see. So, igneous rocks are formed when magma cools and hardens. What about the lava from volcanoes. Does it form igneous rocks too? Granite That’s right! Volcanic rocks from lava are close cousins of mine. But here comes Sandy Sandstone, a very different kind of rock. You’ll want to meet him. (exits) Sandy Sandstone Hello! Who are you? Teacher I’m Mrs. Beecher. I’m an elementary school teacher. Sandstone Well, you might be elementary, but I’m sedimentary! Sedimentary rock. I’m made of sediments – tiny bits of rocks, minerals, or shells. Teacher How can you be made up of tiny rock pieces? You look very solid to me! (taps on Sandstone’s head) Sandstone Well, it’s because of the rock cycle. Over millions of years, rocks get worn down by erosion into tiny grains of sand. Then the sand settles on the ocean floor, layer upon layer, until the sediments get pressed and cemented together into rocks – rocks like me! Teacher Hmm. All those layers sound a bit complicated. Sandstone Not really. It’s as simple as making a sandwich. Teacher Gee, I’m planning to have a sandwich for lunch. Sandstone Good! You can listen to my story while you make your sandwich. A long time ago a river was flowing out to sea, carrying white sand. The sand sank to the bottom and was cemented into a layer of white sandstone. Teacher (holds up slice of white bread) This can be the white sandstone. Sandstone After a landslide, tons of mud and rocks get carried out to sea, and they sink to the bottom, covering the white sandstone. Teacher (spreads peanut butter or cream cheese on the bread) Here’s a layer of mud and rocks. limestone. Then pressure and heat deep inside the earth folded and twisted me, and turned me into marble! Sandstone For thousands of years, colorful shellfish live and multiply on the bottom of the sea, and their crushed shells form another layer. Teacher I never imagined heat and pressure could make such a change! Teacher (spreads on jelly) Mmm, maybe they were purple shells, like this jelly! Sandstone Over time, the river cuts a different channel. Now it flows more slowly, carrying tiny particles of brown clay that settle out to form a layer of darker rock. Teacher (places slice of wheat bread on top) Here’s the brown rock to top it off! Sandstone And there you have it: a sedimentary rock – sandwich! Teacher Now sandwich geology is something I can really sink my teeth into! Are there different kinds of sedimentary rocks? Sandstone There sure are. I was made from sand, but some sedimentary rocks are made from clay and others from shells. Why I even know some rocks that were made from plants! You’ve heard of coal, haven’t you? Teacher Of course. People burn coal for heat. A rock made of plants? Amazing! Sandstone We rocks are amazing. You should meet another rock friend of ours. Here she comes now. So long! (exits) Teacher Bye Sandy. (Marble enters) Why, hello. Who are you? Maggie Marble I’m Maggie Marble. People like to make statues, buildings, and monuments out of marble like me. Why, I’m positively metamorphic! Teacher Did you say metamorphosis? Are you made of caterpillars or something? Marble No, but like caterpillars, I’ve changed from one form into another. That’s what metamorphic means, changing form. You see, I used to be sedimentary, just a chunk of Marble Oh, yes. Why, imagine baking your sandwich in a pizza oven. It’d burn to a crisp! And if you want to see how pressure can change things, try folding your sandwich and using a rolling pin over it. Teacher Okay, if you say so… (folds the sandwich and rolls it with rolling pin) Oh my, this sandwich sure has changed. (holds up mangled sandwich) Marble Nice marbling! Have a nice lunch. Bye. (exits) Teacher Gee, I don’t think I’m hungry anymore. Well, what will I learn next? Granite Well, dear, there are hundreds of different kinds of rocks, but we’re all made in one of three ways! Can you remember them all? Teacher Of course. There are igneous rocks, like you Grandma, formed from molten magma. There are sedimentary rocks made of sediments pressed and cemented together in layers. And there are metamorphic rocks, changed by heat and pressure deep underground. Granite Now you sound like an expert. Glad we rocks could give you some support. Teacher Thanks, Grandma Granite. You rocks support us in many ways, and I’m sorry I’ve taken you for granted all these years. Granite That’s okay, dear. After all, I am granite! Goodbye now and have fun learning more about rocks. THE END