Summary:

Children will learn about different types of rocks. The students will reenact how the different types of rocks are created using clay and then students will create a sculpture of their choosing.

Learning Goals / Objectives:

1. Sculptors are artists that use materials to create free-standing, creative works of art. Their work does not usually hang on walls. They use additive techniques, where something is added to the sculpture, or they use subtractive techniques, where something is taken away or carved away from the sculpture. Many sculptors use marble to make their artwork. Marble began as a sedimentary rock called Limestone, and through the process of metamorphosis, it becomes the metamorphic rock we know as marble.
2. Igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks are the three main categories of rock. They are each formed from a different process.

Background

Setup:

Gather materials and background information that will be presented to the students.

Anticipatory Set:

OBSERVE AND DISCUSS MASTER ARTWORKS and EXAMPLES:

Artworks: Maquette for Family Group (1945) Henry Moore and Rock Cycle diagram

Discussion questions:
1. How is this work of art different than a painting? What do we call this kind of art?
2. What do you think this work of art is made from? (Bronze)
3. Explain additive and subtractive techniques in sculpture. Can you point to a place that demonstrates where a subtractive technique might be used? Can you point to a place that demonstrates where an additive technique might be used?
4. Explain that a sculptor sometimes makes a model of the sculpture in clay, much like a painter who makes a sketch of the painting, where it can be erased and changed prior to painting it on canvas.

Instructions / Activities:

LEARN ABOUT SEDIMENTARY. IGNEOUS. AND METAMORPHIC ROCK FORMATION:

1. Explain to students that they are going to learn how igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock is made, and that they are going to make examples of these rocks, using clay.
2. Provide each student with 2 bars of modeling clay in 2 different colors. Have them cut each bar in half using a plastic knife.
3. Explain: Igneous Rock is formed when a magma (below ground) or lava (above ground) cools. Igneous rocks can contain several kinds of minerals, depending upon where it was formed. Through heat and pressure it becomes metamorphic rock.
4. Tell students they are going to make an igneous rock. “Say these two colors of clay are different minerals in the area where the magma forms./I Have students tear each color of clay into 4-6 pieces.
5. “When the magma forms, the minerals combine. And as it cools, the minerals stay together in one rock./I Have the students combine the pieces into one large “rock,” by compressing the pieces together several times.
6. Explain: Sedimentary Rock forms from particles, called sediment, that are worn off other rocks. The sediment gets turned into rock by being buried and compacted by pressure from the weight above it. Through heat and pressure, it, too, can become metamorphic rock.
7. Tell students they are going to make a sedimentary rock. Have them cut the remaining half bars of clay in half, again. They should have 4 pieces of clay of two colors each.
8. “Sedimentary rock isformedfrom sediment, and sediment is rocks that have been broken down into very small particles.” Have students take one piece of the remaining cut clay and break into small pieces in a pile.
9. “This sedimentgets compacted as other sedimentfalls on top of it.” Have the students compact the sediment into a flat shape.
10. “Millions of years go by, and another layer of sediment gets compacted on top of the first layer. /I Have students take clay of a contrasting color, break it into pieces on top of the first layer, and compress it.
11. Repeat step 14 two more times, using alternating colors of clay.
12. Have students cut the igneous rock in half, and notice the large areas of color.
13. Have students cut the sedimentary rock in half, and notice the bands of color.
14. Remind students that both of these rocks can become metamorphic rocks, through heat and pressure. Have them take one-half of the sedimentary rock and fold it over and squish it together several times. Cut this “rock” in half and compare the difference with the sedimentary rock. This rock may have bands, but the bands will be swirled.
15. “Now let’s make a metamorphic rock from our igneous rock./I Have them take one-half of the igneous rock and twist, and squish it together several times. Cut this “rock” in half and compare the difference with the igneous rock. This rock may have areas of color, but the areas will be smaller and denser.
16. Ask students to point to their sedimentary “rock,” then to their “igneous rock,” and then to the metamorphic “rocks”

CREATE THE ARTWORK

17. Explain that their “rocks” will become clay again, and they will become sculptors. Students will be making a clay model of their sculpture.
18. Have students combine the “rocks” into 3 or 4 pieces of clay.
19. Tell them their sculptures can be animals, flowers, objects, or a collections of abstract shapes. Explain with emphasis, that the sculptures must be created using both additive and subtractive techniques. Check for understanding, that students remember these terms and their meaning.
20. Have students build their sculptures on paper plates.

Assessment:

Teacher’s discretion

Wrap-up / Closure:

Gather the sculptures in a central location.
• Where did you use an additive technique to create your sculpture?
• Where did you use a subtractive technique to create your sculpture?
• Think back on the lesson, when we were making our rocks. What are the three kinds of rocks? How is igneous rock formed? How is sedimentary rock formed? How is metamorphic rock formed?

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