Rocks Investigation

In science, the children have explored a variety of types of rocks including: granite, marble, chalk, basalt, sandstone, limestone, slate and clay. The children have sorted these rocks according to their appearance in a previous lesson and were able to say whether the rocks were: hard, soft, bumpy, smooth, rough, large, small etc.

To develop this learning, the children were given an investigation question to think about:
Which type of rock would be best suited to be used as a kitchen worktop?

The children were unsure at first until they were questioned further:
What does a kitchen work top have to be suitable for? What do you use a kitchen worktop for? Might anything spill on it?
The children decided that the best rock material for a kitchen worktop would need to be:
hard -food is cut up on worktops sometimes
waterproof - water and food is often on a worktop
The children tested each rock by using a pin to scratch or break the rocks and a pipette of water to check whether the rock was permeable or impermeable. 
All of the children decided that granite or marble would be the most suitable material for a kitchen worktop as it is hard and waterproof.