Format
1. Program begins with introduction to Rocky Mountain National Park.
2. Ranger introduces the concept of geologists and what they do.
2. Students act as geologists and share their rock that they brought to the program, describing the shape, colors, and textures they notice on their rocks.
3.Ranger introduces different rock types and students use this information to identify their rocks throughout the program.
4. Students apply new geologist skills to uncover the story of Rocky's geology.
5. 5 to 10 minutes is left at the end for questions and answers.
Objectives
1. Identify and describe rocks a part of the three rock families: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.
2. Describe the forces that act upon rocks to change them into another rock type (heat, heat and pressure, erosion and weathering).
3. Use knowledge learned in the program to identify and describe their own rocks in order to uncover how they were created throughout time.
4. Understand how tectonic plates formed the Rocky Mountains.
5. Use evidence-based scenarios as geologists to uncover the geologic story of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Standards Alignment
National Standards
ESS2A 3-5 -- Earth materials and systems
ESS2B 3-5 -- Plate tectonics and large-scale system interactionsNational Standards
Sciences
NGSS-4-ESS1-1: Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
NGSS-4-ESS2-1: Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice wind, or vegetation.
NGSSS-4-ESS2-2: Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features.
State Standards
Colorado Academic Standards
Sciences:
SC. 4.3.1: Earth has changed over time.
SC 4.3.2: Four major earth systems interact.
SC 4.3.3: Earth’s physical features occur in patterns.
SC 5.3.3: Earth's major systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earth's surface materials and processes.
SC 5.3.4: Most of Earth's water is in the ocean and much of Earth's freshwater in glaciers or underground.
Reading, Writing, and Communicating:
RW.3.1.1: Participate cooperatively in group activities.
RW.4.4.1: Use a variety of resources to build and communicate knowledge related to open-ended research questions
RW.4.1.2: Create a plan to effectively present information both informally and formally.
RW.5.1.1: Collaborate in discussions that serve various purposes and address various situations