Rock Hunt

Before the meeting:

1. Locate an area where Cub Scouts can collect rocks. It can be a park, a backyard, a business that sells stones for landscaping or building materials, or an official rock hounding site.
2. Contact parents and legal guardians to let them know Cub Scouts must wear comfortable clothes, shoes, and their Cub Scout Six Essentials. Remind them of the meeting location date and time.
3. Gather copies of the Scouting America Annual Health and Medical Record on each participant (youth and adult)
4. Review Annual Health and Medical Records for any restrictions that may impact participation
5. Print a copy of Rock Types for each Cub Scout and an extra one for yourself.

During the meeting:

1. Bring copies of the Scouting America Annual Health and Medical Record on each participant (youth and adult)
2. At the meeting location, gather Cub Scouts and share that they will be rock hounding or searching for rocks. They will be looking for three types of rocks. Using the Rock Types worksheet explain the following:
   • Igneous rock is any rock made by cooling magma (hot, molten material that flows under the Earth’s surface) or lava (molten rock that comes out of a volcano). Examples of igneous rock include basalt, granite, and obsidian.
   • Sedimentary rock is formed in layers. Sediment is gravel, sand, clay, or soil that settles and hardens out of water in riverbeds, ponds, lakes, and oceans. Sediment may contain shells and skeletons. If the sediment was originally sand, it becomes sandstone. Clay turns into shale. Shells and skeletons make limestone. Small pebbles and sand form conglomerate.
   • Metamorphic rock has been through a process much like baking. (Meta means “changed,” and morphic means “form.”) The change is caused by intense heat and great pressure deep in the Earth. Under these conditions, sedimentary limestone becomes marble. Sedimentary sandstone turns into quartzite. Igneous granite changes into gneiss (pronounced “nice”).
3. Hand out egg cartons. Explain to Cub Scouts that they are to search for rocks and place them in their egg carton.
4. Once they have collected their rocks, provide each Cub Scout a magnifying glass and a clipboard with the Rock Types worksheet to the clipboard.
5. Ask Cub Scouts to use their magnifying glass and separate their rocks into the three types of rocks igneous Rock, sedimentary rock, and metamorphic rock based on the worksheet.
6. Have Cub Scouts share their results.