Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Rocks Have Properties

Color, reaction to being hit together, reaction to a mild acid.
You have put the rocks that are alike in separate piles. Tell what you know about rocks in each pile. Point or pick up one of the rocks you will talk about. Do you know the rock’s name such as brick? What are they used for? What color are they? Some rocks have two colors in them. Do you have any of those? Go through all of your piles of rocks and point out the colors and tell what you think the rocks are used for.

In Texas, where we live, one finds many rocks called flint or chert and when you hit two rocks together you have a burned smell coming from the two rocks. Do you have flint?

Limestone is a common in Texas, too. You might drop a limestone rock in vinegar and see that bubbles form. Much limestone is created from the bodies of shelled animals that died millions of years ago. Do you have limestone?

While you have the vinegar out try it on rocks you think are different from limestone. Do any other rocks give off bubbles in vinegar? Vinegar is an acid that is good to use in this experiment. It is safe because you can eat it. The rocks that bubble have a substance in them or on them that reacts with vinegar. The proof is in the bubbles.




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Dr. Bob has provided all these awesome posts about rocks and we hope they have been helpful for families/teachers in this time of quarantine...