The Pet Rock Project - NSTA Learning Center

SCIENCE SAMPLER
FIGURE 3
One student participating in the Pet Rock Project chose a common piece of Mississippianage
chert as her adopted rock. Modifications include the addition of cardboard legs, tail, and
head to create a camel.
A. B.
photos courtesy of the authors
FIGURE 4
“Slick,” a piece of obsidian, was
personalized with the addition
of formal attire
Discussion and findings
We were pleasantly surprised and impressed by the variety
of Pet Rock Projects that we received. Most of the rocks
students submitted were samples of chert gravel, used
locally to build roads. However, many students creatively
embellished their rocks, or added props or features
(Figure 3), and some of the pet rocks submitted were
collected by students outside of the state (Figure 4).
One of our favorite submissions was scoria, a
volcanic rock often used for landscaping. The student
named her rock “Dat” (Figure 5) in honor of the New
Orleans Saints, and creatively relayed the story of how
this “football rock” could be transformed into other
rock types (Figure 6). Although the student incorrectly
identified her rock as pumice, the stor y reveals
incredible creativity as well as an understanding of
the internal and external processes that operate on
the surface of and within Earth.
Student-created rock cycles also exhibited
understanding of the interrelatedness of igneous,
sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Some students
produced their rock-cycle diagrams by drawing, some
students created rock-cycle diagrams electronically, and
some students fashioned rock-cycle diagrams with shape
cut-outs. Three examples of student rock cycle diagrams
are presented in Figure 7.
6 2 SCIENCE SCOPE