Carolina Curriculum: GEMS > Kits for Grades K-5

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Expanded view of the Stories in Stone Kit

GEMS^® Stories in Stone (Grades 4–8)

Just about everyone loves rocks. Whether they are in childhood rock collections or the sacred stones of many cultures, there is a special attraction and power in them. They are the makeup of the crust of our home, Earth. By examining actual specimens of the Earth’s crust, students learn about basic processes that have shaped and transformed the Earth over billions of years. Experience with these real objects, rocks and minerals, combined with simulation of Earth process, leads to deeper understandings and more abstract concepts, such as how rocks form, rock cycles, and plate tectonics.

Working in small groups, students use a boxed set of 10 prenumbered rock and mineral samples to learn how rocks and minerals differ, then classify the samples. "Mystery rocks" are included to challenge their classification skills. Throughout the unit, students find and collect interesting rocks and minerals, observe them with magnifying lenses and compare different samples, and make large inferences about large classes of rocks—how they change and are related to each other.

Benefits of using this kit:
	Introduces foundational science concepts that lead to student success
	Strongly aligned with multiple state standards and the National Science Education Standards and Bench Marks for Science Literacy
	Provides clear step-by-step instruction, assessment suggestions, literature connections, and ideas for further instruction

Goals Standards In the Kit Pilot this Kit Support

Goals of Stories in Stone
	Students gain an intuitive and experimental understanding that there are motive forces constantly at work, such as shifts in the Earth’s plates, weather, and erosion.
	Students learn to distinguish between rocks and minerals, and to describe some of their properties. They also learn to recognize several crystal shapes, how to identify them, and describe how they are formed.
	Students develop a deeper understanding of the process by which rocks and minerals are formed and how they transform through the rock cycle.
	Students develop an understanding of the processes that build up landforms, such as volcanism and mountain building, and wear landforms down, such as weathering and erosion.
	Provide an introduction into the theory of plate tectonics.

National Standards addressed by Stories in Stone:

	Earth and Space Science Standard, 5–8: Structure of the earth system; Earth's history; Earth in the solar system.
	Science and Technology Standard, 5–8: Abilities of technological design.
	Science in Personal and Social Perspectives Standard, 5–8: Natural hazards.
	Inquiry Standard, 5–8: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry.
	Unifying Concepts and Principles: Evidence, models, and explanation.

In the Kit:
The unit kit comes with a Teacher's Guide, a Teacher's Pack containing: copy masters, MSDS sheets, matrix of provided materials where used and materials needed but not supplied, and materials needed for a class of 32 students.

Try the Carolina Curriculum Pilot Program
What’s the best way to learn about STC Program®, Building Blocks of Science™, Math Out of the Box®, or GEMS Kits®? Pilot a unit in your school or district!

Here's how it works:

	Complete the pilot information request form.
	You choose a lead teacher(s) to pilot the units.
	Carolina ships the selected unit kit(s) to your school/district.
	At the end of the pilot, you can purchase one of the unit kits for 10% off the catalog price!

Contact our Sales Staff
Carolina’s Curriculum Sales and Services group provides districts and schools that are evaluating curriculum with samples, professional planning, and implementation assistance. Our staff includes in-office curriculum account managers and regional sales managers in the field. Click here to contact the account manager and sales manager for your school district.

Customer Service
All Carolina customers have their own customer service representative, determined by state, to meet their specific needs. Click here for customer service representative contact information.

Technical Support
With Carolina's technical support staff, you have access to knowledgeable professionals with expertise in many areas of the sciences. Call 800-227-1150 (8 am to 5 pm ET) or email curriculum@carolina.com and trained staff will answer your questions about a Carolina Curriculum product or provide additional information.


	Stories in Stone Kit This Kit comes with a Teacher's Guide, an information packet, and the materials needed for a class of 30.

	Stories in Stone Kit Teacher's Guide Additional Teacher's Guides are available if you need them.

	Stories in Stone Kit Refill Pack This set replenishes the consumable materials in the Kit.