An Obituary for Mr

Biography of Mr. Sandy Stone

Sandy Stone was from a family with a long-standing history of adventures. It seemed that everyone in his family had taken interesting journeys through out their lives. His grandma on his mother’s side, Grandma Magma, had gotten the ride of her life during the latest volcano.

Then his mother, Granite Louise, who was born deep underground when Grandma Magma cooled, had a roller-coaster ride as the mountain was formed. She was pushed right up to the surface!

Show granite sample.

After sitting on top of the mountain for thousands of years, enjoying the view of the valley below, Granite Louise had a son. Dr. Water Weathering and Nurse Windy Weathering assisted at his birth.

Show the sand sample.

Sandy was a wee boy. In fact, he was so small that he and his friends were carried off by the kidnapper, Mr. Erosion. Mr. Erosion carried them into the stream. From there he snuck them down through the canyons, bumping into other rocks and collecting others like Sandy along the way. They followed the stream until it merged into a river. The current of the river was still swift, so it carried them even further. When he was a child, they reached the mouth of the river.

There, the current slowed down. Mrs. Gravity helped him escape the clutches of Mr. Erosion and Sandy landed on the edge of the ocean floor where a delta was forming. Soon, he met many friends who had taken a similar journey. They checked each other out. The younger ones were square and sharp on the edges. They hadn’t traveled so far. The older ones were rounded off, smoothed by many miles of jostling in the water.

As the years went by, Sandy became covered up by younger ones who came pouring in from the river. (Mr. Erosion was still busy it seemed.) During his teenage years, Sandy partied in the dark with his friends as they became buried deeper and deeper.

Gradually, the pressure from those above him slowed him down. Sandy developed into a hardened, rough individual. He gave up the nickname “Sandy” and folks started calling him Mr. Sand Stone. He survived like this for millions of years.

Show sandstone sample.

As he aged, he began to feel the pressures of the world upon him. He became squeezed from the weight of the world above him and cooked from the heat below him. Mr. Sand Stone became morphed and hardened even more. Folks started to call him “Ole Quartzite”.

Show quartzite sample.

He hoped for a volcano or a mountain-building event. That way he could be exposed to Dr. Water Weathering and Nurse Windy Weathering. Then, maybe he could become a father. He longed for little “Sandys” and “Sandettes” to be playing at his feet.

Show sand sample.

THE END

(Adapted from “Rock Obituaries”, Women in Mining, accessed 8/05 at

The Biography of Mr. Sandy Grain

Location:

Time: 10 minutes

Materials: The Biography of Mr. Sandy Grain Sheet, samples of: sand, granite, sandstone, quartzite, whiteboard

Activity Description: Today, we are going to hear the biography of Mr. Sandy Grain. Say “Hello!” to Sandy. Read the story. So what happened to the grain of sand in the story? Do you remember what type of rock he came from? [granite] Granite is an igneous rock – it was formed as magma cooled. Show the crayon shaving model. This is kind of like how you make candy. You melt the crystals of sugar and let them cool to create crystals that look different.

What forces broke Sandy away from his mother? [wind and water] We call that process, weathering, when rock is broken down into small pieces or sediments. What kind of rock did Sandy first turn into? [Sandstone] Sandstone is a sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock is made when little particles are pressed together and held tight. Show the crayon shaving model. This is like the making of Rice Krispie treats, the particles are sometimes cemented together with a substance like the marshmallow in the treats. In real life the cementing substance may be iron oxide (rust), silicon or calcium.

What type of rock did he morph into later? [quartzite] What did it take to cause this change? [heat and pressure] When sedimentary rocks are put under heat and pressure they can become metamorphic rock. Show the crayon shaving model. “Morph” means “form” and “meta” means “change”. Just like a caterpillar metamorphoses into a butterfly, sandstone metamorphoses into quartzite. You can kind of think of it like ground beef being pressed and cooked into a hamburger. The ingredients are still the same, but the heat has changed the way they look. Stress that the heat does not cause the melting in metamorphic rocks, but it does in igneous.

This story has illustrated the rock cycle. Draw the rock cycle on a whiteboard. Emphasize that this cycle is just a representation of the possibilities. Not all rocks undergo the changes or undergo them in the same order.

Rock Cycle Examples

Location:

Time: 10 minutes

Materials: samples

Activity Description: Every rock we see is a part of the never-ending rock cycle. Some may stay in one stage for a long time (millions and millions of years) but they can all be effected by the forces of heat, pressure and weathering to change into a different type of rock. Lay out the different rock samples and see if the students can figure out which materials change into which ones.