Rock classification by design

How would YOU go about sorting and classifying a group of rocks? Mike Koenig at Greenville Senior High presented his Introductory Geology students with this challenge. Koenig said they enjoyed the activity: "Student response was very positive. Once they understood that it was not for a grade and they could choose the grouping, they were all in!"

Koenig attended the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program geology workshop for teachers and received a rock kit as part of his classroom supplies. He had his students complete this activity on an individual basis as a type of formative assessment. "I wanted to see what they knew prior to any direct instruction on the material. Each student was presented with the set of listed samples and told to organize them, per the instructions in the OOGEEP manual, into three groups of their choosing based upon physical characteristics." Koenig then asked the students to justify their classifications.

The activity went smoothly, with students quickly sorting and justifying their classifications. Koenig commented, "It was interesting to see how each student classified the samples: based upon color, upon the presence of crystal faces, upon the size of the crystals, or based upon whether they contained fragments of other rocks or not. No matter the academic ability of the student, the activity was approachable and achievable."

Koenig plans to repeat this same activity as part of a larger summative assessment after completing all his lessons on igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks.

About the workshop, Koenig said, "I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop, especially seeing the student examples of completed activities around the room. It is sometimes difficult to visualize an outcome written up in a lab manual, but seeing completed projects really helped inspire me to complete these activities in my own classroom. I believe that practice is the best teacher, so it was very helpful to teach our peers one of the lessons. I also enjoyed, and appreciated, the expertise and laid-back nature of the presenters. Each person that spoke was a ‘matter of fact’ presenter that truly understood the value of getting educators invested in energy-related curriculum. Lastly, the field experience on the second day was a real eye opener, especially the refuse processing. I never realized how much planning and technology go into such an operation. I especially liked how the owner was planning using the gases from the decomposing refuse to use as a fuel source for the plant. I look forward to attending more workshops in the future."