A Peak at Ore Samples - Eva Varga

A recent field trip to Georgia (with a hop over to Alabama) inspired us to delve into rocks and ores a little more [see our post, The Mining of Iron Ore, for more detail].  Serendipitously, it also coincides with a relatively recent challenge, Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival: Rocks Edition.

Ore samples selected from my collection

The munchkins’ sketches

We began by gathering a number of ore samples from my extensive rock collection.  As a former classroom teacher (science specialist), I have had the opportunity to amass a rather good collection of rocks and minerals.  Many are already labeled for me (as shown above) and have been divided into sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rock.  Sadly, however, geology is not my strong suit and the collection mostly collects dust.  I really need to get it out more often and do more activities with the children.

After selecting the ore samples, I read aloud excerpts from How Stuff Works “Iron Ore” describing how the ores are mined as the kids worked on sketching each sample.  It was fascinating to learn how they are then processed in refineries the world over.  After we finished our sketches, the munchkins summarized the process in their journals.