Rationale
Given that young children are naturally curious about the world around
them, a unit on rocks gives them a natural vehicle in which to explore and
learn new things to satisfy their curiosity. A unit on rocks easily provides a
chance for young children to closely observe, record, describe, and compare the
world around around them, skills that such young children should be developing,
according to the National Science Standards. Although young children know that
Earth's surface is composed partly of rocks, a closer look will help them to
learn so much more about the ground beneath them. Through this varied study of
rocks, young children will begin to see that some rocks are made of a single
substance, whereas others are composed of many different substances. Through
various characteristic tests and observation and comparison with pictures,
children can begin to learn how to discover and identify the minerals and
substances within a piece of Earth. A study of rocks provides a vehicle to
study past life forms and the history of Earth, as well as natural phenomena of
the Earth, such as earthquakes and volcanoes.
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