Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium, Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, 1996

Reaping Rocks
Purpose

To make predictions about the origin of lunar rocks by first collecting, describing, and classifying neighborhood rocks.

Key Words

geologist

mineral

rock

igneous

sedimentary

metamorphic



Materials

rocks

empty egg carton, box,
or other collection tray

labels

magnifying lens or
stereo microscope

"My Own Rock Chart"

"Moon ABCs Fact Sheet"

 Procedure
1.
Display your rocks on a tray or egg carton, and label each one with the location of where you found it.

2.
Look carefully at each rock with and without a magnifying lens or stereo microscope. What details can you see under magnification?



3.
Describe what you see by filling out "My Own Rock Chart." Use as many adjectives or descriptive phrases as you can.

4.
Classify your rocks as igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic. Try to interpret how your rocks were formed; that is, try to determine the origins. Add this information to your chart.

5.
Now, based on your chart and the "Moon ABCs Fact Sheet," predict what the Moon rocks will look like.




6.
How do you think the different Moon rocks might have formed?





Go to My Own Rock Chart.
Go to Reaping Rocks Teacher Pages.
Return to The Moon Activity Index.
Return to Hands-On Activities home page.
http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/