Rocks and Minerals Lesson Plans

Students identify and describe rocks that contain records of the earth's history and explain how they were formed. They formulate questions about and identify needs and problems related to objects and events in the environment, and explore possible answers and solutions.

Fourth graders describe the difference between minerals (composed of the same substance throughout) and rocks (composed of two or more minerals). They recognize that there are three classes of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic

Students investigate rocks, minerals and the rock cycle before they participate in a videoconferencing activity with another class that tests their knowledge. They create PowerPoint presentation with questions about rocks and mineral before playing a "baseball" game against the other class.

Fourth graders play a game to find out about Minerals.  In this minerals lesson, 4th graders try to find six mineral deposits on the map.  Students take core samples of the minerals. Students complete an activity sheet with miner's slang.

Students describe the difference between geological resources and othe natural resources. They list the rocks, minerals, and fossil fuels that are found in Illinois and their uses. They identify ways to conserve natural resources.

Fourth graders examine geology by completing a week long research activity. For this rocks and minerals lesson, 4th graders spend six days exploring different rock formations in class, defining their proper vocabulary terms, identifying geological colors and shapes and writing descriptions about the samples. Students complete the week by taking a geology test.

Review the difference between rocks and minerals using this resource. Learners identify and investigate the physical properties of these objects. They create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast types of rocks. This is a motivating way to explore this topic.

Students complete a Rock Star Journal while studying the properties of their rock. They choose their own rock star, and then they are going to learn everything they can about their rock star.

Second graders explore the properties of rocks. Through center activities, 2nd graders complete an analysis of a rock of their choice. They identify several elements of their rock as well as complete a rendering of their rock in their rock in their science journal.

Fifth graders observe several examples of types of rock and write about their similarities and differences in their science journals. They discuss their observations and discover that rocks are grouped according to the scientific classifications.