First, in math this morning we began our new math unit. Throughout this unit we will be deepening our place value understanding and working with units of measure. Many of the activities revolve around the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. So first we read this story. Then we practiced estimating a bag of beans. As we started counting the beans (we made groups of tens), we had to revise many of our initial estimates (we had guessed far too low!). This activity reinforced that a number can consist of ones, tens, and hundreds, and that a hundred is made up of ten "tens."
Then in science we made rocks! Last week we compared and contrasted sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks. Today we got to make sedimentary rocks! This fun investigation helped us to see how different pieces of materials can come together to form a rock when heat and pressure is applied. Students layered the materials (which represent minerals) and applied the pressure. I will apply the heat tonight and bring the rocks in tomorrow.
Here's the procedure and ingredient list in case you would like to make some rocks at home.
- Mix together the following ingredients in a clear bowl.
- 1⁄2 cup of coffee grounds
- 1 cup of Sand
- 1⁄2 cup of salt
- 1 1⁄2 cups of flour
- 1⁄2 cup of coffee grounds
- Slowly pour in 1 cup of water as you mix everything with your hands.
- Shape the dough into rocks and bake for 15 minutes
- Let cool for at least 2 hours.