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Lessons that rock

Third-graders collect rocks, then learn about their pets with a little help from high school chemistry students.

By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE
Published April 14, 2005

INVERNESS - Inverness Primary School's Gail Bockiaro asked her third-grade students to bring her rocks - as gifts. The children didn't know why their teacher had made such an odd request, but they brought rocks.

Bockiaro also collected rocks from other sources. She gave the collection to students in Kevin Bingham's Citrus High School Chemistry 2 class. They then started the ball rolling toward Bockiaro's goal of having a class full of third-grade science fair winners.

Inverness Primary School is having a schoolwide science fair on April 21. Bockiaro's class, now fully aware of what she is up to, began their class project by visiting the Citrus High football field in a hunt for the very rocks they had given their teacher.

The high school students hid the rocks on the field and gave the children maps to find them. That was the first of three trips the children made to the high school for their project.

It is called "We've Got Rocks In Our Heads. Well, At Least On Our Minds," and Bockiaro took her students through the scientific method steps necessary for a legitimate project.

Their hypothesis is to determine what kinds of rocks their rocks, known now as pet rocks, are. Their equipment and materials included, of course, rocks, as well as the various objects, liquids and measuring devices they used in the chemistry lab, which they visited twice.

The students were required to keep data sheets and, as a class, determine the types of rocks they had: igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic.

During their first visit to the high school chemistry lab, third-graders Danny Indelicato, 10, and Ben Bingham, 8, whose rocks were named Ruby Jr. and Rocky, had to make some predictions about their rocks and then make actual measurements.

Guided by their high school buddy, Kristin Leanza, 18, they measured their rocks with a ruler, they weighed them, tried to scratch them with a nail, dribbled vinegar on them to see if an acid would make them bubble and tested them to see if they floated or sank.

Kevin Bingham said this exercise was good for his students, too. His job, he said, is to promote science education and encourage students to consider science education for their careers.

Senior Lindsey Simonetti, 18, is definitely headed into education and said "hanging out with little kids" was the best part of the children's visits. Bound for the University of Central Florida, she plans to be an elementary school teacher.

Senior T.J. Indorato, 18, said he learned how "kids learn" and was impressed by "how smart they are."

During their second visit to the chemistry lab, the third-graders took advantage of the opportunity to go beyond the parameters of their project to learn more about their rocks and the basics of mineral identification.

Designed after an eighth-grade lesson, the third-graders were recording, with the help of their older buddies, each rock's color, streak color on a white tile; how it breaks - a clean cleavage or rough fracture; its luster; heft - how heavy it feels for its size; and hardness according to Mohs' Scale.

Danny's rock was white, left a colorless streak, broke with cleavage, was glassy, had medium heft and a hardness of about seven. Ben's was black, left a tan streak, fractured, was dull, felt light and was softer with a hardness of about five.

There is still more work to be done as the children construct their display for the upcoming science fair, which will include the identification of each rock. And by the time they get to middle school they will be experienced in how to create a science fair project.

Bockiaro said her reason for all this was to take the worry out of higher-level science. "My real reason is when they get to high school, they'll want to take science," she said. "That's really the whole point of this."

Oh, and she really wants her class to win the science fair.

[Last modified April 14, 2005, 01:15:22]