My fourth graders are learning about the rock cycle, and I found the game Journey On The Rock Cycle online. In this activity, students move between different stations in the rock cycle, and roll a die at each one to discover what happens to their rock and where they go next. It includes a data sheet for them to fill out, and a comic strip template for them to use at the end to show what happened to their rock on its journey.
I used this as an introductory lesson for the kids, and they really enjoyed it. We did have to explain some of the vocabulary words to them as they went along (subduction was a biggie!), but all in all they did a wonderful job with it.
I did make a few tweaks to make it run a little smoother: the original dice are great, but pretty small. I recreated the dice templates in a larger form. I also printed each station out in a different color, and made multiple dice for each station so that there was less waiting time when several students were at a station at the same time. It really helped out! I’m also pondering getting ambitious for next year and creating more permanent dice from wood or foam and using the laser etcher at Maker Depot to add the text. We’ll see!
