How Granite Forms - Activity for Kids

Geology Unit Study

Week 7: We modeled the formation process of granite.

Granite is an igneous rock which forms underground. The bigger the crystals in the granite, the stronger the granite. Some of the hardest granite on Earth is found in Yosemite National Park.

We watched the documentary, How The Earth Was Made - Yosemite, as part of our Glacier study as well as for learning about granite. When granite cools slowly, large crystals are formed. In Yosemite, a crack in the surface enabled liquid magma to seep out. The magma kept the cooling granite warm for a longer period of time greatly increasing the cooling time. As it took a long time for the granite to cool, large crystals developed.

After watching the video, we used Crayola Model Magic to illustrate the granite formation process.

 First many crystals were formed by breaking the dough into small pieces.

 Next, small crystals were quickly stuck together to form granite.

 The processes was repeated with larger crystals to illustrate stronger granite.

The big crystals on the left represent strong granite which cooled very slowly.




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