The Properties of River Rocks!

2nd graders have shifted from observing volcanic rocks to sorting river rocks by properties: color, luster, texture, size, shape and even weight.  They have been surprised by all the colors that are in each rock and by how smooth the rocks are.

Sorting by color.

Sorting by weight.

The river rocks have patterns on them.

Sorting by luster: shiny or dull.

After we sorted the river rocks by different properties, we looked at our data and wrote what we noticed.  Most of the river rocks were smooth.  There were many different colors in the rocks, but there weren't many white rocks.  

Next...what happens when we put the river rocks in water?

The rocks are smoother.

The water gets dirty looking.

The shiny rocks look duller.

The colors of the rocks get brighter when they are wet.