Fourth graders at Hill Intermediate School recently engaged in exciting cross-curricular activities, blending their science and English Language Arts (ELA) lessons to bring the rock cycle to life.

In science, the students learned about weathering, erosion, and deposition, the processes that shape Earth's surface. Meanwhile, in ELA, they studied the rock cycle through their reading series and used their creativity to create comic strips illustrating the transformation of rocks.

To reinforce these concepts, the students participated in a hands-on science activity using Airheads candy as a fun and interactive tool. They simulated weathering by breaking the candy apart, represented erosion by moving the pieces to another student’s area, and demonstrated deposition by dropping the pieces in a new location.

To show how rocks change over time, students then layered their candy pieces, applying pressure to form sedimentary rock. They squished the layers to mimic the creation of metamorphic rock, then applied additional heat and pressure to melt the candy, representing lava and magma. Once cooled, this simulated the formation of igneous rock.

One of our fourth-grade students, Levi Calhoun, saw this activity and shared it with us! We thought it was a perfect way to show the students these concepts!