Wednesday Science - geology in the churchyard

Years 3/4 were treated to another visit from Martyn Thorne. We all went to the church and the children were able to find 3 different types of sedimentary rocks on the church building. Katie found quartz crystals in amongst the flint and others found calcite crystals on the far side of the porch. Next time you're up at church , have a look!

Martyn challenged the children to find fossils which would look like the cross section of a broken shell (a nice curve). They found lots and lots. Martyn showed us how you can tell if a stone is limestone by pouring a weak acid on it which will make it bubble, giving off carbon dioxide gas. 

Battling against the noise of a very long bell ringing peal, the children's final challenge was to find crystals, searching for straight lines in amongst the grave stones.I'm sure you will be very pleased to hear that the children were very respectful and well behaved in the graveyard.

I would like to give a massive thank you to Martyn for giving up 2 afternoons to share his wonderful geological knowledge with us.

PS The crystals are growing!  Hurrah! I will try to blog a photo of them if I can take a focussed picture.

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9H