Geology Lesson Plan Setting: Indoors and outdoors 

 

Time: 90 min (but can be shortened by skipping any of the three sections) 

 

Materials:  

For “Rock Toss” 

Rocks of various sizes (if outside) or objects of various weights/sizes that can be thrown if inside.  

 

For Erosion/Deposition Experiment: 

Approx. 5 large cake pans (1 per student small group) 

1-2 bags of soil (enough to fill each cake pan a few inches deep) 

Approx. 5 watering cans (1 per student small group) 

Hand lenses (enough that students can share) 

Books or other object to prop up one end of the cake pan 

 

Next Generation Science Standards:  

Cross-cutting concepts: Patterns; Cause & Effect; Stability & Change; Structure & Function 

Science & Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations; Engaging in argument from evidence; Developing and using models 

Disciplinary Core Ideas: ESS2: Earth’s systems 

 

 

 

 

 

Lesson:  

 

20 min- Rock cycle introductory activity: “Rockity-Rock-Rock-Rock” 

 

● Everyone stands in a circle, one person is in the middle. ● The person in the middle can choose to point clearly at anyone in the outer circle 

and say either “sedimentary,” “metamorphic,” “igneous,” or “Rockity-rock-rock” ● When an outer circle person is pointed to with “Sedimentary” command, they, along 

with the people to either side of them, must all three stack their flat hands one over another while saying “layers layers layers layers layers etc.” 

● When an outer circle person is pointed to with “Metamorphic” command, they, along with the people to either side of them, must all three do a silly dance while chanting heat & pressure, heat heat & pressure. (a little hip-bumping to demonstrate the rocks grinding together is a great dance element to model to the students when explaining the game). 

● When an outer circle person is pointed to with “Igneous” command, they must crouch down to the ground while the people on either side of them put their arms up over the center person to create a ‘volcano’. The center person will slowly stand up and then “explode” out of the ‘volcano’ while saying “magma magma magma volcano!” 

● When an outer circle person is pointed to with the “rockity-rock-rock” command, that person must say the word “rock” before the center person finishes saying “rockity rock rock”.  

● The center person may swap back out into the outer circle if: ○ The outer circle person pointed at (or any of the adjacent people to that 

person) fail to do the proper response.  ○ The outer circle person pointed at does not say “rock” before the center 

person finishes saying “rockity-rock-rock”.  

Establish a positive environment where students decide if/when someone is “guilty” of not doing the proper action/words or didn’t respond with “rock” fast enough.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 min - Rock Toss  

(this game works best outdoors, but could be modified to an indoor environment if items such as beanbags or balls of different weights are traded for rocks in a large space) 

 

o Have students line up facing an open area. Explain that we are going to see how far we can throw different sizes of rocks. Each student picks up a small pebble and throws it as far as they can across the creek or into the open field. (Explain the need for safety and throwing the rocks always away from people.) Then pick up a medium-size pebble and throw it as far as you can. Then do the same with a cobble.   

● Ask students the following questions. Have them discuss answers with a partner or small group, then have groups share out to the entire class. 

○ Which rock were you able to throw the farthest?   ○ Which the shortest distance?   ○ Why? 

 

o Explain that similarly to our strength determining how far we can throw a rock of a certain size, the amount of energy that the water has (the water’s velocity) determines how much the water can carry. The water can carry lots of things, from microscopic particles and microorganisms to boulders and trees. The velocity of water + weight of item determines how it is sorted. 

  

o We have the strength (the energy) to throw the smallest pebble the farthest. It is the lightest and requires the least energy from us to throw it. The largest rock takes more energy to throw it so we can’t throw it as far. The stream also can “throw” some rocks and particles farther than others. In some places, where the water is moving slowly, the stream has little energy to carry particles (called sediment) and so it drops them and they lay on the bottom of the creek.  

If you are outdoors and have access to a creek, find a place in the creek where the water is moving slowly. Look at and feel the sediment there. It is fine, small particles of silt. (This is called deposition or sedimentation.) If you do not have access to a creek, have students imagine one that they have seen in the past and describe what they’d see in the areas you describe. Then find a place where the water is moving more quickly. Look and feel the sediment there. The sediment is sand or pebbles instead of fine silt. Why? The water is strong enough (fast enough) to carry the silt away (to throw it farther.) Where the water is moving fast, the stream has more energy and can carry bigger rocks. Imagine a flooded creek and the roaring water. The stream then has enough energy to move large cobbles and sometimes boulders. As the stream flows and changes energy, it drops the particles it 

can’t carry any more. Wherever the stream drops particles, a patch of similar-sized sediment will build up (sorting.) 

 

● Student discussion group question:  ○ What makes the stream move fast sometimes and slow other times? (Rain 

and snowmelt, channel size, vegetation, channel shape.)  

50 min - Erosion and Deposition Experiment 

 

Materials: 

Approx. 5 large cake pans (1 per student small group) 

1-2 bags of soil (enough to fill each cake pan a few inches deep) 

Approx. 5 watering cans (1 per student small group) 

Hand lenses (enough that students can share) 

Books or other object to prop up one end of the cake pan 

 

Students will explore erosion and deposition by pouring water into a container of dirt and observing what happens. Before the experiment, students will predict what will happen. Then, they will record what they find when they pour the water into the dirt and observe tributaries forming (Miniature Rivers) and dirt moving (erosion and deposition). 

 

o Break students into groups of 3-4. Each group needs a pan, a bucket of dirt, hand lenses, large books or something else to create a sloped incline for the pan, and a watering can. 

 

o Have students pour dirt into each of the pans so that it makes a layer on the bottom 2 to 3 inches deep, leaving ¼ of the pan bare. Smooth the soil out so that it is as even as possible on the top of the layer. An alternate option is to have these pans pre-filled with dirt so that students can skip this step (less chance for dirt spilling all over).  

 

 

 

 

o Encourage students to examine the soil closely with the magnifier, touch it and run it through their fingers.  

● Group discussion questions: ○ What is the soil made of?  ○ Does it all feel the same?  ○ How do you think the different soil parts will react if water is poured 

onto them? 

 

o Have students place 2 or 3 books under the dirt-filled end of the pan so that it is propped up about 2 inches higher than the bare end. 

 

Explain: Erosion is the process by which material is removed from a region of the Earth surface. It can occur by weathering and transport of solids (sediment, soil, rock and other particles) in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere. It usually occurs due to transport by wind, water, or ice; by down-slope creep of soil and other material under the force of gravity; or by living organisms, such as burrowing animals. Deposition is where a river lays down or drops the sediment or material that it is carrying. Rivers carry lots of different sediment, including rocks, boulders, silt, mud, pebbles and stones. Normally, a river has the power to carry sediment. If the force of a river drops, the river cannot carry sediment. This is  

when the river deposits its sediment. 

 

o At this point, have students gently “rain” water onto their pan of dirt (towards the top).  

 

o Have students note observations and sketch “frames” of what is happening.  

 

● Small group discussion questions to then share out to the larger group: ○ How does rain shape the Earth? What happened to the surface of the dirt 

when the water first hit it? ○ What happens to the water that comes ends up at the bottom of the pan? ○ Do you think it matters if the soil starts out wet or dry?  ○ What would happen if you added a few more books under the pan to make a 

steeper slope? ○ Do all the soil particles get pushed equally by the water?  

 

o Wrap up with a summary of the day’s activities, and evaluate by having students come up to the whiteboard or large poster paper and write one new thing they learned about geology/how our land is shaped today.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wyoming Game & Fish Department 

5400 Bishop Blvd.  

Cheyenne, WY, 82006 

(307) 777-4600 Updated October, 2017