This spring, students in grades 2-4 participated in a unit on the layers of the Earth.  We read The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth, by Joanna & Bruce Cole to gather baseline information about layers within the Earth. We began this unit by creating clay model representations of the different layers found within the Earth.  As we focused on the first layer of the Earth (the crust), students were then asked what they would like to know about rocks and natural disasters. Students were very enthusiastic about rocks, minerals, volcanoes, along with earthquakes. As we continued our unit, we experimented with these concepts by making earthquake-proof structures using models in Jell-O, observing the effects of chemical erosion on limestone, along with reading informational books about rocks, minerals, volcanoes, and earthquakes. To finish up, students found a rock from outside and spent an investigation   classifying and experimenting with their rock.