Do rocks still stir your curiosity?  Many of us have collected rocks at one point or another in our lives.  Our class is “digging” into rocks and landforms during our earth science unit, and our investigations have been fascinating.

We asked, “Could a volcano pop up in your backyard?”  To come to a logical answer, we graphed active volcanoes continent by continent and examined patterns.  (Spoiler Alert:  NH and VT geologists probably should not hold their breath waiting for one.)

We asked, “Why do some volcanoes ooze and some explode?”  Using thick “lava” and thin “lava”, we blew bubbles and poured lava to help us come to some conclusions.

This week’s curiosity question was, “Will a mountain last forever?”  We learned all about tree wedging and ice wedging, and then we did a sugar shake to simulate how rocks might wear down as they bump and fall down a tall mountain.

First, we colored the edges of a sugar cube.  Then we shook it together with three other sugar cube “rocks.”  We recorded our observations after every forty shakes with drawings and by counting how many edges still had colored marker showing.

After two hundred shakes, we could imagine what rocks battered by ocean waves against cliffs or rocks tumbling down mountainsides might look like, plus our containers were filled with sugar “sand.”

Sneak peek:  Next week’s curiosity question is, “How could you survive a landslide?”  Don’ t you wish you could join us?