![]() ![]() If You Can't Confidently Identify, Confess That type of story makes their rock a piece of "Earth history" and makes their favorite rock an even more treasured possession. If the student has a coarse-grained igneous stream pebble, you might draw a simple picture and explain how their rock crystallized slowly underground, then was exposed and rounded by erosion and weathering. ![]() Tell the "Story in the Rock"Ĭhildren are very interested in the "story" hidden in their rock. So, it is best to examine their specimens without doing a hardness test or streak test or any other test that might mark their property. However, they might consent to a test that will mark their specimen and then regret it later. Children can be extremely picky curators. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that you will be handling specimens from a child's personal collection. Here are a few ideas for "identifying" student rocks. Being prepared for the experience can be helpful. ![]() If you are a teacher or a geologist visiting a classroom, don't be surprised if students bring in some very interesting rocks for you to identify. Ideas for Teachers and Visiting Geologists Which of these "rocks" will a child pick up? It is probably not going to be a "representative" specimen and it might not be a genuine rock! Image copyright iStockphoto / Scott Feuer. To find yourself in that situation with third-grade students is a humbling experience. The rest were some of the most unusual rocks that I have ever seen! Few things bring on a professional sweat more than being in front of an audience and in over your head. Instead of seeing one or two that stumped me, there were one or two that I could identify with confidence. Instead, the rocks that they presented would have brought grins to the toughest Ph.D. I expected them to be an assortment of the local rocks and fossils. After the volcano lesson, rocks started appearing out of pockets, lunch bags and desks. I was there to teach a lesson on drawing volcanoes, and the teacher told me that her students brought a few rocks for me to identify. I've done many "visiting geologist" lessons at elementary schools, and my first one remains the strongest in my mind. You will probably be caught off-guard by what students bring to school. It does not matter how many petrology courses you have taken or how many outcrops you have studied. There you will encounter a diversity of interesting rocks - many of which you will be unable to identify. If you are highly skilled at rock identification, I am willing to bet that there is a location near your home where your hand-specimen identification skills can be put to a rigorous test. ![]()
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