Rock Cycle for Kids

As all the students flooded into the classroom and started to unpack, the teacher, Mrs.Bentley, said, "Today you are going on a mini field trip to a park with Mrs.Crystal, who studies rocks and minerals! What you're about to learn is a surprise!" The students cheered, wondering why they were going there. They gladly followed Mrs.Crystal out of the room and to the park nearby. Mrs. Crystal asked, "Do you know what inside a volcano?" Many hands shot up. She pointed to a girl. "Magma, and when it spews out it is called lava." Mrs.Crystal exclaimed, "Yes! That is correct! It flows down, burning everything in its path. Over a week or so, it cools down and hardens, because on the surface of Earth, it is much cooler than the inside of the Earth, which is over 1000 degrees! It turns so hard it becomes a kind of rock.... Jess.. what is it?" Jess said, "An.... igneous rock?" "Fantastic!" The igneous rock is basically a lump of cooled, hardened lava." Reaching into her bag, she pulled out 10 round igneous rocks. All students crowded around. She scooped them back up, and said, "That's not the end of it! The igneous rocks gets broken down by erosion and weathering such as wind, rain, and ice, turning them into sediments! These sediments are usually found near water sources. Some of them even have fossils in them due to dead animals that sink to the lake/ocean/sea/river floor, and other sediments pile on top of it and more and more and more.... so the fossil and all the sediments and the occasional fossil are compacted and cemented." Mrs.Crystal ended her speech. "Class, what is the rock called?" Several voices rang out, "Sedimentary!" Mrs.Crystal smiled, and the pupils knew they were right. This time, instead of showing them rocks, she brought out of her bag a granola bar, a plastic bowl, a tube of sticky glue, and a bottle of water. She announced, "Who wants to be my helper? A hand shot up. Indigo smiled shyly as the teacher beckoned to her to be her helper. "Break apart the