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• Adults should have their students in sight and in control at all times.

• Chaperones may be asked to assist with activities. More information will be sent two weeks before your trip if necessary.

• Food, candy, gum, and drinks besides plain water are not allowed inside.

• Help students to listen, stay on task, and complete their work.

• Your primary responsibility as a chaperone is to monitor students.

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Rocks and Minerals... What's the difference?

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Rocks and Minerals... What's the difference?

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Highly recommended to go over this before your visit:

Any solid matter in the earth's crust could be a mineral, as long as it was not made by living things. Minerals have specific chemical formulas, and the atoms that make up minerals repeat in the same pattern, over and over, to make a larger chuck of mineral.

Minerals are naturally occurring, solid chunks of matter in the earth's crust.  Minerals have specific chemical formulas, and the atoms that make up minerals repeat in the same pattern, over and over, to make a larger chunk of mineral. Sometimes, if a chunk of mineral forms in a hot, liquid solution, and nothing gets in it's way, it might form a crystal, with natural corners and faces. This is relatively rare, most minerals are found as tiny bits in rocks, along with bits of other minerals in the rock.

A rock, is a combination of different minerals in a solid chunk. Mixed up minerals make up rocks, just like mixed up ingredients make up cookies. There are many kinds of rocks, which form depending on what mineral "ingredients" are present, and where and how the rock formed.

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Below are the learning standards our program supports and we will touch on during your field trip:

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Below are the learning standards our program supports and we will touch on during your field trip:

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We are so excited for your visit! Below are the student expectations for your trip

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We are so excited for your visit! Below are the student expectations for your trip

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Use an indoor voice.

Walk don't run.

Food, candy, gum, and drinks besides plain water are not allowed inside.

Bring your own pencil.

Listen to adult instructions.

Stay with your assigned group.

Stay focused so you can get the most out of your visit.

Please keep hands and clipboards off museum glass so they stay clean and scratch free.

Have fun and ask questions!

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Great 10 minute video about the history of the Gold Rush. Highly recommended before your visit. The video does stall on pyrite when the narrator starts talking about gold, which may be confusing, but otherwise it is a good resource.

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California Gold Rush For Kids | Bedtime History

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The following activities can be done before or after the field trip

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The following activities can be done before or after the field trip

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2.5 min video of how plate tectonics work! Great overview  🌋 Highly recommended before your visit.

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Tectonic Plates: The Skin of Our Planet | Down to Earth | Da Vinci

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A great printable board game, for before the trip once main concepts are introduced, or for after the trip. About 20-30 mins prep and about an hour for the activity.

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After playing a board game to learn how to differentiate the three ways rocks can form, students analyze maps of local topography, water sources, and volcanic activity, to better understand how geology affects a given region. They also experience scale, recognizing geologic processes as fast or extremely gradual.

Rock Cycle Roundabout Board (1 per group)

Rock Cycle Cards (1 set per 4 - 6 students)

small rocks, buttons, or other objects for game pieces (1 per student)

California Maps: Landforms, Waterways, and Faults (1 per group, or projected for the class)

Rock Types of California Map (1 per group, or projected for the class)

Student science notebooks or scratch paper

By building your own seismograph to document shaking, you'll learn how scientists measure earthquake intensity.

Students will explore tectonic plate boundaries and different types of seismic waves generated by earthquakes.

Ever wonder what nearly 40,000 animals are up to at night?

See what's revealed-every Thursday at NightLife. Sign up for event updates and exciting announcements.

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Want to play a board game to learn about rock formation? Explore geologic processes, fast and slow.

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A free PDF download. Best used towards the end of the Gold Rush unit, once students are introduced to some of the words.

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Gold Rush Crossword
Gold Rush Vocabulary Comprehension

A simple, easy, engaging crossword puzzle about important concepts I will teach during my Gold Rush-Westward Expansion unit. My students love them this year and it keeps them engaged, yet productive!

Vocabulary included:
FORTY-NINER
IMMIGRANT
PROSPECTOR
EXTRACT
BOOM TOWN
SIERRA NEVADA
JAMES MARSHALL
MILLRACE
NUGGET
HOSTILE
PLACER MINING
LYNCH
MIGRATION
EL DORADO
DISCRIMINATE
INDIGENOUS
TRESPASS
MISSION
CALIFORNIA
MILL

Key Words Included: Gold Rush-Westward Expansion-fourth grade GA social studies-colonists-History-fourth grade history-fifth grade history-social studies differentiated reading passages-Bowtie Guy-Bow Tie Guy-homework-small group instruction-literacy center-independent practice-close reading- Georgia fourth grade social studies

Check out Differentiated King George III Reading Passages & Comprehension Questions

If you like these, check out my Christopher Columbus differentiated passages found here!

Check out my Fourth Grade Reading Passages for the Year!

Check out my Student Created Newspapers Here!

Government Reading Fluency Task Cards

Government Interactive Sort Bundle

Check out my 4th Grade Task Cards Bundle

Check out my *BEST SELLING* Government differentiated reading passages

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Thanks & Happy Teaching!-Bow Tie Guy

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Gold Rush Crossword Gold Rush Vocabulary Comprehension A simple, easy, engaging crossword puzzle about important concepts I will teach during my Gold Rush-Westward Expansion unit. My students love them this year and it keeps them engaged, yet productive! Vocabulary included: FORTY-NINER IMMIG...

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Ready to use presentation! Can be read through with a class in 10-15 mins. This presentation is highly recommended before your trip.

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Three Types of Rocks The Three Types of Rock Welcome! During this presentation you will learn the three types of rocks, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. You will also see examples from each rock type. Welcome! Igneous Rocks Igneous are formed from melted rock, or magma, deep

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Fun, and accurate song that teaches the rock cycle.

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THE ROCK CYCLE SONG | Science Music Video

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This is the same chart we will be using at the museum.

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Learn the Rock Cycle with a Mountain Goat! 

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Learn the Rock Cycle with a Mountain Goat! 

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This interactive virtual lesson can be used in the classroom or at home. Students could work on it independently or in groups/pairs.

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Rock out with rock art using this engaging interactive lesson! With the help of a mountain-climbing goat, learn the rock cycle, view gorgeous rock formations, find natural geometric shapes, watch rock artists at work and write your own rock song!

The earth is always changing, but we don't always notice these changes. They are happening all around us in a series of scientific events. Today you will learn about one series of events called the rock cycle, and practice describing the relationship that causes these events.

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Rock out with rock art using this engaging interactive lesson! With the help of a mountain-climbing goat, learn the rock cycle, view gorgeous rock formations, find natural geometric shapes, watch rock artists at work and write your own rock song! The earth is always changing, but we don't always notice these changes.

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Watch this 4 minute video to understand how gold is formed in quartz veins.

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Making North America | How to Make Gold | PBS LearningMedia

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Explore a historically preserved gold mine in California's Sierra Nevada mountains and learn how earthquakes bring gold to the surface, in this video from NOVA: Making North America: Human. Geologist Lisa White points out that quartz veins can contain gold and explains why this happens.

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Building materials come from mines (part 1)

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Building materials come from mines (part 1)

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Building materials come from mines (part 2)

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Building materials come from mines (part 2)

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These expectations are to protect the museum collection, and to preserve an enjoyable environment for all visitors. Please help your student's field trip be a success.

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These expectations are to protect the museum collection, and to preserve an enjoyable environment for all visitors. Please help your student's field trip be a success.

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Geology and Tectonic Uplift of the Grand Canyon 

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Geology and Tectonic Uplift of the Grand Canyon 

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Great 4 minute video that explains how the Grand Canyon was formed. This would be great for teaching NGSS 4-ESS1-1. Done by an National Park Service Ranger.

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Geology - Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

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Have you ever wondered how the Grand Canyon was formed and why it is found here in Northern Arizona? To understand the formation of the canyon, there is a simple way to remember how it was shaped over time. All you have to remember are the letters D U D E or dude. The letters stand for: Deposition…

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8 minute video on the beginning of the gold rush

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The Start of the California Gold Rush (1849)

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If you are interested in Mercury mining and/or the environmental impacts of California's Gold Rush, use this 2 part series.

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Mercury in the Bay Part 1 | QUEST | PBS LearningMedia

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Learn how quicksilver mines provided gold miners with the mercury they needed to separate gold from ore, in this video from QUEST produced by KQED. 150 years later, we’re still facing the consequences of Gold Rush era mercury, much of which is lodged in the Bay’s mud and in its fish.

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You will see this with models at the museum.

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Notice how the plates can hold both land and water.