| Lesson 1: Where are the rocks?
Using a set of pictures the children learn that rocks help create
a diverse landscape and that rocks are beneath all the varied
surfaces on the planet. Pictures of quarries and mines illustrate
that rocks contain useful materials. Children also learn that
beneath the Earth’s crust is a hot molten material that
can cool to form rock |
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| Lesson 2: These came out
of the ground. The children look carefully at rocks
and products containing quarried materials. They use oral and
written puzzles to help them understand which materials are
‘natural; and which are manufactured. The activities also
show children the wide range of everyday products that contain
quarried material. |
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| Lesson 3: Rock explorers.
This is an out of school experience. The children survey two
different buildings and a section of road. They identify the
quarried materials and products containing quarried materials
used in the construction of these structures. The children consider
the origins and some of the properties of the materials used.
They begin to understand the large quantity of quarried materials
that are needed to sustain our lifestyle. |
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| Lesson 4: Rocks to keep us
dry and rocks to keep us healthy. This is a class test
that tries to establish whether some quarried materials, or
products made from quarried materials, are waterproof. The children
learn that this is a useful property in a variety of situations
such as building homes, making ponds and reservoirs and making
drinking water clean . |
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| Lesson 5: Geologist’s
game, “It all happened here!” This lesson
shows the importance of one mineral, coal and helps children
to understand that humans are using the resource more quickly
than it can be replaced. The children learn that the understanding
of geological history is based on the study of rocks and the
fossils in them. Through a game played on the playground the
children are introduced to the concept of Geological Time. |
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Lesson 6: You can’t
put a quarry there! This is a simulation to help children
understand how the process of quarrying can affect the environment
and that there is a need to use quarried materials wisely. The
children are told a new sand quarry is proposed on a local green
space. Together they discuss the benefits and problems of the
proposal. The children design a poster to promote their own
point of view.
The children are shown how recycling and reusing certain products
can reduce the need for quarried material. |
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| Lesson 7: What is soil? By
observation children learn, in this lesson, that rock particles
are a major constituent of soil. They are shown a simple method
of testing the differences in particle size between varying
samples of soil. The children are told that this could be useful
information to people who grow plants. |
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| Lesson 8: Which soil can
hold water? The children help plan and conduct a fair
test to ascertain the ‘water holding’ characteristics
of three different samples of soil. They discuss how this information
could be useful to people growing and irrigating plants. |
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| Lesson 9: Do we need to quarry
so much? The children look at simplified plans of two
modern houses, one a traditional brick house, the other an “eco-house.”
The children look at the origins of the materials used in each
house and explain why they think the eco house may help the
environment. |
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