Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Cheese from rocks?

RES third graders went to Shelburne Farms to participate in their "Stories in Stone" educational program connected with our current geology study. Students learned about the three main types of rocks, igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary, and looked for examples of these types along the shores of Lake Champlain.  They discovered that shale, a type of sedimentary rock, is quite common and easily distinguishable do to its dark gray/black color and veins of white, which is made of calcite. Calcite is a calcium carbonate mineral. The educators at the Farms helped students come up with a story of how one might connect a stone containing calcite all the way to Shelburne Farms cheddar cheese, which contains calcium. Pretty cool! And the examples of weathering and erosion we found around the Lake Champlain shoreline were pretty amazing too.

Stories in Stone Slideshow

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