Curated OER
Minerals and Rocks
Students identify and interpret various minerals and discover how to identify and classify them. They identify and discuss how people describe objects and how scientists describe objects. From there, students look at a set of common...
Curated OER
What are Rocks and Minerals?
Students identify the properties of rocks. In this rocks and minerals lesson, students use the Internet to learn about the properties of rocks and minerals. Students conduct a test to determine whether various samples of rock are limestone.
Curated OER
Mining Minerals
Students define the properties of minerals and their uses in their world. In this multi-lesson unit, students contribute actively to discussions of mineral mining, mining methods and mine safety. A role play lesson asks students to...
CK-12 Foundation
Mineral Formation: Evaporating Lake
Get crazy for crystals! Junior geologists learn the secrets of crystal formation through lecture, reading, and examples. Other topics include common ionic compounds found in fresh and salt water, the effects of location on forming...
Pomegranate Apps
Foodle - Nutrition Facts
USDA National Nutrient data is available at your fingertips! This application is a vast library of more than 8,000 nutritional labels for commonly eaten foods. Search and sort foods by a variety of categories.
Berkshire Museum
Backyard Rocks
You don't have to travel far to learn about rocks, just step outside, pick up a stone, and begin investigating. After taking a class walk around the school grounds collecting rocks, young scientists practice their skills of observation...
Curated OER
Everything is Made of Something
Young scientists can use this activity to learn about natural resources, as well as what we use them for. A word search prompts pupils to find sixteen words about natural resources.
Curated OER
Rocks, Gems, and Minerals
Fourth graders review by sorting and classifying minerals. They describe the composition of a mineral and use rules to classify that mineral. They complete a mineral scratch test and place the results in a table in the second activity.
Curated OER
How Do People Use Rocks And Minerals?
In this rock and mineral worksheet, middle schoolers will graphically organize the main idea of what a rock is and then add details on how people use rocks by filling in the seven blanks.
Curated OER
How hard is it?
Inquiry is probably one of the most fun ways kids learn. They will test the hardness of 10 different minerals in order to classify them. They rate each of the minerals from most to least hard. Note: Having real minerals for this...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Physical Setting Earth Science 2010
Every topic under the sun is covered in this New York State Regents High School Examination. With the focus of earth science, participants answer 85 quesitons about the solar system, geologic time, rocks and minerals, landforms, and...
NASA
Mineral Mystery Experiment
One way to study something is to try to replicate it. Young scientists do just that as they use solutions to recreate mineral structures on a dwarf planet. They make solutions with different types of salt, evaporate them, and observe the...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Physical Setting Earth Science 2009
Junior geologists address 50 multiple choice questions and 35 short answer questions about the earth system. Plenty of visuals are included for interpretation: diagrams, graphs, maps, photographs, laboratory setups, weather symbols, and...
It's About Time
The Changing Geography of Your Community
Lead your class in exploring their local communities as well as the general environment. As they determine continental distributions by investigating minerals, rocks, and fossils located in their local region, pupils construct a...
University of New Orleans
Rock Cycle and Rocks Lab
Science rocks! Explore three types of rocks and the rock cycle with an igneous rocks experiment. Pupils discuss textures, composition, and learn how melts are formed from the Earth's crust. They weigh materials using a scientific scale...
Baylor College
What's Is Soil Made Of?
It's time to roll up those sleeves and get a little dirty in the second lesson plan of this series on the science of food. Investigate where plants and animals get the minerals they need to live in this two-part exploration of soil....
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Utah Open Textbook: 4th Grade Science
How does weather affect Earth? Learners understand the characteristics of water and make predictions about weather patterns. They recognize how water and weather affect rocks and minerals through erosion. They also learn about fossils...
Curated OER
The Oil Field Industry
A brief look at natural resources are described, prior to explaining the importance of oil in this 12-slide PowerPoint. Clear and colorful graphics are on each slide to keep viewers interested and more informed. Tip: Ask students how...
SF Environment
Waste-Less Lunch
Is it possible to have a waste-less lunch? Can your class become leaders in conservation? Discuss the importance of reducing waste during lunch time with a fun instructional activity that can be extended to everyday practices. First the...
Curated OER
Make Your Own Biodegradable Plastic Stuff
Students identify the four basic natural resources. They distinguish bettween renewable and non-renewable resources. Pupils recognize that all natural resources are needed by living plants and animals. Students list consequences for...
Curated OER
Investigating the Effect of Minerals on Plant Growth
How do different minerals affect the growth of plants? Budding botanists find out in a multi-week experiment that has them using solutions with specific mineral deficiencies. While there is a lot of preparation for the investigation,...
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Students investigate the properties and uses of rocks and minerals. They build towers using only one material from a pile of stones, tiles, wood, etc. provided by the teacher. Students test the hardness of rocks by scratching them with...
Curated OER
Using HyperStudio
Second through eighth graders use the software "HyperStudio" to create a presentation of their choice on Native American lifestyles. One thing I like a lot about this lesson, is that the students are the ones who get to choose and...
PBS
Sea Surface Temperature, Salinity, and Density
Earth's vast ocean is full of mysteries! Science scholars discover the big-picture properties that influence its characteristics at different latitudes using a lesson from PBS's Weather and Climate series. After completing a background...