Rocks part 2

Another question that came up during our inquiry about rocks is  ``Why do rocks get wet when it rains?``  For this activity, we filled out containers with sand, rice, water and soap.  We added rocks to each of the container.  The children were encouraged to play with the rocks and make observations.

Ella: The ones in the water are sinking.

Alessa: The sand comes off the rocks.  The rocks in the soap are slippery.

Christina: The rice sticks to the rocks where there is soap.

Folu: They are getting wet (rocks in water).  The rocks look dirty.

Brandon: Some rocks are getting dirty (rocks in sand).

Kaitlyn: The sand does not stick to the rock.  The soap sticks to the rock.  The rice does not stick.

Brandon: It`s getting wet (rocks in soap).  The sand has tiny rocks in it.


During circle time, we looked at the rocks all together and concluded that the soap and water ``sticked`` to the rocks because they are wet and that the sand and rice do not ``stick`` to the rocks because they are dried.  We helped the children make a connection to the world wet by reminding them of the day when most of them came in after our morning recess with wet socks.  They were able to say that their socks got soaked by water. We summarized that wet is when something is covered or soaked by water or another liquid.  We asked the children to name other liquid (we talked a little about the concept of liquid) that can get us wet when we are eating and/or drinking.  The children named soap and water from our previous observations and juice, milk and chocolate milk.

Finally, the children answered the question: ``Why do rocks get wet when it rains?`` 

Ella said that rocks get wet when it rains because the rain is made of water.

Look under the tab Classroom Activities to read more about our rock activities.