We found a lot of rocks in the soil and learn different words to describe them, such as stone, pebble, gravel and grit. Through this we made a link with our forces topic: grit creates friction on the roads to stop cars slipping in icy weather.

In another area, we carried out a mini fossil dig in a sand tray using trowels and a paint brush to gently remove grains of sand to reveal the fossils. The children could then read more about fossils and how they are formed. 

Children identified rock samples such as granite, marble, chalk, sandstone, limstone and clay with their class tearcher and decided weather they were igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic. Children had a go at stone balancing and linked it to their forces topic.