geology for 1st grader

Hi Denise,

Real Science 4 Kids has a Geology program for middle school, but their elementary level isn’t expected until spring 2013.

You can see a sample of their Geology book for older kids here:

http://store.gravitaspublications.com/level-1-grades-5-8/middle-school-unit-studies-geology/middle-school-geology-student-textbook.html

What about the Rodney Rockhound lapbook from Hands of a Child? It has a booklist. Our family’s favorite rock picture book is Rocks in His Head. Very neat and based on a real man if I remember right.

I did a rocks unit a few years ago and one great activity was to make edible rocks. Sedimentary are layers so the kids got a tray full of graham crackers, two colors of icing, sprinkles, etc to layer before eating. Igneous rocks are formed when hot magma cools so we used candy melts, melted them, colored them, and dropped into small rock piles. Metamorphic rocks happen when heat and pressure combine other types of rock into a new rock combination so we did rice crispy treats (1 package large marshmallow rocks (large marshmallows) 1 stick of butter cut into boulders (slices) 4-5 cups of rice crispy rocks (cereal)).

We also have an unlabled rock kit from Home Science Tools for identifying, plus a Geology Field Trip in a Bag where they sift through to find rock bits and indentify close to 30 with a guide. Also from Home Science Tools.

We enjoyed this one: http://shiningdawnbooks.com/available-units/hard-as-a-rock/