Teacher's Rock--Providing Rocks, Geology Training, and Lesson Plans to Teachers.

The Teacher’s Rock program supports teachers.  Our goal is to provide low-cost workshops to teachers where they can learn more about how Earth works.  Teachers will bring home lesson plans that include samples of Colorado rocks that help tell the story of our state and play a vital role in people’s everyday lives.  Some examples include coal for electricity, gravel for roads, building materials such as gypsum, sandstone, marble, and limestone, and fossils used in research. Find out more below!

Why support the Teacher's Rock program?  Teachers and students need all the help they can get.  The ramifications of a scientifically uneducated public means people understand less about where their food, energy, raw materials, and commercial goods come from.  To help reduce the disconnect between people's lives and resources, it is vital to provide training and financial support for teacher education. To make the Teacher's Rock workshops possible, we need financial support and specific rock samples. Click Here to make a donation or  contact me for further details.

Why do teachers need rocks in the classroom?  Kids, and adults for that matter, think rocks are cool.  The better the story the rock can tell, the more intriguing the rock is.   Sadly, some students go through an entire geology section without seeing a single rock.  While stories and illustrations of dinosaurs and volcanoes are fun, students need the lifelong skill of making good observations and logical conclusions from them.  Looking at rocks and the natural world provides the "HOW we know", not just "what we know" about geology.  Being a good observer is an essential skill for any geologist or thinking person.  

Teacher's Rock Workshops

  • Course Description:
The first skill in learning geology is making good observations of rocks. The stories behind the rocks are revealed when you apply a few important geologic principles. Learn about the past environments that existed when different Colorado rocks were forming and why those rocks are now the tops of mountains. You will be provided with lesson plans, including samples (4 sets of 10 rocks) for your entire class to participate in the "Living Colorado's Geologic History" lesson, which connects students with rocks, the stories they tell about past environments in Colorado, and how those rocks are used in our everyday lives. Additional topics that will be woven into the curriculum include plate tectonics, the rock cycle, evolution, and glaciers.
  • When/ Where
    19-21 June: at The Friends of Dinosaur Ridge facility, Morrison, CO. Click Here to Request a Registration Form
      24-26 June: at Walking Mountains Science Center, Avon, CO.    Click Here to Request a Registration Form        
  • Audience:  Grade 5 - 12 teachers, science center & outdoor educators. No geology experience needed.
  • What you get:
           Training:  Inquiry-based activities will focus on plate tectonics, the rock cycle, and how each rock tells a geologic story.
           Rock Samples: Large, exceptional samples.
           Lesson Plans: Take standards and inquiry- based lessons and ideas to your classroom.
  •  Workshop Agenda: Course runs 8 am - 5 pm each day.
           Day 1:  Introduction to geologic principles through hands-on, experiential lessons.
           Day 2:  AM: More rock identification tools, relative age dating. PM: Field trip to view local rock outcrops.
           Day 3:  AM: Field trip to explore more local geology. PM:  Fossils, Glaciers, Geologic Maps.

Free Rocks with a Lesson Plan as Part of Your Tuition

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The Living Colorado's Geologic History Lesson connects students with how rocks are classified (using an Inquiry-based approach), how rocks tell about past geologic environments, and how rocks are used in our lives today.  To the left is an example of the set of rock samples you will receive as part of the course fees (You will receive four sets of these rocks so your entire class can participate at once).  These are large (~3 inch), excellent samples of rocks from Colorado (or just outside it) that  provide the clues that help geologists decipher the past events of our state.  The rocks are also important to our society as each one serves a unique purpose in our lives. Examples include fossil fish, coal, and marble.
To the right are the photos that go with the lesson.
Additional rocks and educational materials may be provided, depending upon donation sources.
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These images accompany the rocks to help connect students to the environments where rocks form and how these rocks are used in our everyday lives.


Interested in hosting a class or creating a custom workshop?

The Observant Naturalist is looking for additional venues for Teacher's Rock workshops around Colorado.  Click Here to contact Mike to discuss details.
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Can you describe the geologic events that have occurred to create this landscape? Sign up for a course and learn how. I-70 Roadcut, Morrison, CO. Photo M. Zawaski

 Donations to make these courses possible have been made by the following organizations and individuals

  • Colorado Lien Mine (Laporte, CO)
  • Colorado School of Mines, Edgar Mine (Golden, CO)
  • Colorado Stone Quarries (Marble, CO)
  • Dinosaur Ridge (Morrison, CO)
  • Excel Energy, Valmont Power Plant (Boulder, CO)
  • Greater Denver Area Gem & Mineral Council
  • Jason Anderson (Crestone, CO)
  • JC Fossils (Kemmerer, WY)
  • Lorrie McWhinney (Littleton, CO)
  • The Nature Place (Florissant, CO)
  • Trimble Stone (Boulder, CO)
  • Wyo-Ben (Billings, MT)
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Dinosaur tracks in sandstone at Picketwire Canyon, CO. Photo M. Zawaski

"The eye seldom sees what the mind does not anticipate." Eldridge Moores