The Pet Rock Project - NSTA Learning Center

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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
SCIENCE SAMPLER FIGURE 5 “Dat,” a piece of scoria, was altered only by the addition of his “team symbol.” The rock’s story and relationship within the rock cycle are presented in Figure 6. FIGURE 6 Student submission of pet rock relationships. This story exhibits a higher level of creativity than typical student submissions. Conclusion Students may often encounter so many facts, concepts, and theories in a science class that they exit the class at the end of the year with only a skeletal understanding of isolated scientific principles. Some constructs in Earth science, such as plate tectonics and the rock cycle, are unifying themes in the geosciences and deserve more than a cursory glance by students. Thorough understanding of these important constructs provides a knowledge base within Earth science on which further topics can be linked and scaffolded. We think, based on students’ submitted projects and anonymous student survey data, that the Pet Rock Project was successful in promoting a more in-depth understanding of the rock cycle. Because the project involves the “adoption” of a rock, we think that the Pet Rock Project may possibly promote personal meaning-making in the classroom by targeting students’ affective as well as their intellectual domains, and giving students multiple relevant opportunities to retrace and internalize rock cycles’ subpathways. Furthermore, varying degrees of content knowledge may be easily incorporated within the assignment so that it can be implemented at various grade levels. We encourage other science teachers to creatively explore the investigation of rock properties and the rock cycle through the Pet Rock Project. References Bybee, R.W., and A.H. Pratt. 1996. National standards: Challenges for Earth science education. Geotimes 41: 16–19. Clary, R.M., and J.H. Wandersee. 2006. A writing template for probing students’ geological sense of place. Science Education Review 5 (2): 51–59. Frack, S., and S.A. Blanchard. 2005. Rockin’ around the rock cycle. Science Scope 29 (2): 62. Lyell, C. 1838. Elements of geology. London: John Murray. Mantell, G. 1836. Thoughts on a pebble, or a first lesson in geology. London: Relfe and Fletcher. Mintzes, J.J., J.H. Wandersee, and J.D. Novak, eds. 1998. Teaching science for understanding: A human constructivist view. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. O c t o b e r 2007 6 3
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The Pet Rock Project - NSTA Learning Center

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