SCHOOL: Millbrook Elementary

GRADE LEVEL: 4th Grade

PROGRAM: Can You Dig It?

INSTRUCTOR: Aaron Henderson

Aaron Henderson’s Experience:

This week I had the pleasure of going to Millbrook Elementary School in Raleigh to show some fourth graders some of the awesome things we can find inside the earth. We studied rocks and minerals through a program called “Can You Dig It?!” and got our hands dirty through some hands-on experiments!

We started our time off with some general information on the topic, but quickly entered into our own excavation! We were able to dig into our own piece of crust to find rocks and minerals just like we could in nature. The junior geologists prepared themselves with goggles and headlamps and quickly got to work to find all the items in their crust. They loved it! Their excitement was evident as they began to uncover hematite and peacock copper along with many other rocks and minerals.

Our experiments continued to identify and study the things we found. We looked at various characteristics such as hardness, iron content, and streak color by using a field test kit. It was amazing to see how much the kids enjoyed themselves, but also learned at the same time. Not only did the kids enjoy it but I could see the teachers excited about how excited the kids were as well!

All in all it was a great day with the classes there and I cannot wait to go back and teach the fourth graders at Millbrook Elementary!