The students have spent several weeks looking closely at small samples of earth materials and carefully measuring weights and volumes. It's time for them step back out into the natural world — at least in their imaginations.

Students imagine standing in a place somewhere on Earth’s surface. They identify two earth materials that might be under their feet and use their experiences in this curriculum to think about their properties including "heavy for size" and imagine possible transformations that might have occurred.

By the end of the investigation students will have made connections between their classroom work with earth materials and what's actually underfoot when they stand in different places on Earth's surface.

Learning Goals

• Think about earth materials in the real world

Sequence of experiences
1. Ask the question	All Class	5 Mins
2. Prepare to discuss	All Class	20 Mins
3. Where are we now???	Discussion	20 Mins

Materials and Preparation

For the class:

• Post the investigation question in a place where all students can see it.
• Post the class chart of earth materials that was created in the first class.
• 1 set of earth materials: pebbles, gravel, sand, clay, organic soil, shells, water, mineral oil, rocks, and minerals (for the demonstration)