Earth Materials

Investigation 4Take It for Granite

For the Teacher – Getting ReadyStudent Materials

Rock and mineral samples – 1 of each: calcite, feldspar, pink granite, hornblende, mica and quartz.

1 Container, ½ liter 2 Hand lenses 1 Tool kit

For the Teacher – Getting ReadyClass Materials

1 Set of rocks and minerals 1 Teacher sheet no. 18 Rock and Mineral

Identification Sheet 1 Plastic cup Vinegar, white

What We Will Learn

We will learn what the mineral ingredients are in granite.

Science Vocabulary

granite - a rock made up of several minerals feldspar - hornblende mica

Part 1 Review

What did you learn about calcite and the four rocks in Part 1?

The rocks and vinegar sat overnight in the vials and today we are going to look for more evidence that there is calcite in the rocks.

Looking for More Evidence

Getters get your group’s tray and CAREFULLY carry it to your group.

Observe your vials. What do you see?

That’s right, they are no longer fizzing.

Thinking

What could we do to get more evidence that there is calcite in the rock samples?

What did we do in the mock rock investigation to discover hidden ingredients?

Yes, we can use the evaporating dishes to see if there is anything in the vinegar.

Designing the Investigation

How will we go about finding out if there is anything in the vinegar?

If something is left in a dish after the liquid has evaporated, how will you know it is evidence that calcite was in the rock and not just something in the vinegar itself?

Experiment Controls

Scientists often use controls when they experiments.

A control gives scientists more evidence because they can eliminate some sources of what they are looking for.

We will have two controls. One control will be an evaporation dish with

liquid from the calcite vial. The other will be with some plain vinegar.

Procedure

Getters get six evaporation dishes and 2 sticky notes from the materials station.

I will bring the vinegar to you. Be sure to put the sticky notes from the vials

with the evaporation dishes. Pour just enough liquid to cover the bottom

of the evaporation dish with liquid from the vial.

Label the vials with the calcite liquid and the vinegar.

Clean Up

Reporters put the rocks from the vials in the empty cup.

Managers empty the remaining liquid from the vials in the cup and put the vials in the corners of the FOSS tray.

Collectors bring the FOSS trays to me CAREFULLY so that they can be stacked.

I will collect the cups.

Evaporating Time

We will wait for the liquid in the evaporating dishes to evaporate and then we will observe them to see if we can find any evidence of calcite.

What We Learned

Sometimes more than one test is needed to provide conclusive evidence.

Evaporation is a technique used to separate liquid from solid parts of a mixture or solution.

Literature Connection

The Two Boys: An Aborigine Story from Australia