K-State Research and Extensions
Crystal Shapes
Of quartz I love geology! The chapter offers five activities at three different levels. It features hands-on activities that cover crystal shapes, cleavage and fracture, hardness scale, specific gravity, and mineral identification....
Science Friday
Mineral Madness
Science does not need to be as hard as a rock. Pupils test 10 different minerals to determine their properties. The learners observe luster, streak, hardness, and fluorescence for each specimen. Afterwards, they compare and contrast the...
Virginia Department of Education
Mineral Identification
What's the difference between a rock and a mineral? And what properties are used to identify minerals? The first installment of a five-part series on earth materials and processes prompts young scientists to identify a set of...
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...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Rocks & Minerals
Take young geologists on an exploration of the rock cycle with this six-lesson earth science unit on rocks and minerals. Through a series of discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on investigations your class will learn about the...
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Rocks and Minerals in Our Lives
Young geologists discover the important role that rocks and minerals play in our everyday lives through this series of hands-on activities. Starting off with a lesson that defines the difference between plants, animals, and minerals,...
Curated OER
Rock On! Featuring the Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic Trio!
Get your classroom rocking with this four-lesson earth science unit. Through a series of shared reading activities and hands-on investigations, young geologists learn about the three types of rocks and the unique properties of each.
Curated OER
Minerals of the Earth
Unearth this gem of a resource to use in your geology unit! With colorful images, bullet-point text, and links to related videos, it deals with the characteristics, properties, and identification of minerals. There are also slides...
Scholastic
Study Jams! Minerals
All that glitters is not gold! In this nine-slide show, your mineralogists gain insight on the formation and properties of the building blocks of rocks. Beautiful and sparkling photographs make the presentation pleasing to the eye, and...
Central Bucks School District
Igneous Rocks Lab
Searching for a simple igneous rocks experiment to assist pupils with rock classification based on texture and composition? In the activity, pupils view multiple rocks in various ways to determine texture and composition. They then...
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Take young geologists on an exploration of the collection of rocks and minerals that we call Earth with an upper-elementary science lesson. Through a series of class discussion and hands-on investigations, students learn about the three...
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals Unit
Students test and identify minerals according to their physical properties. In this mineral analysis lesson, students brainstorm ways to identify rocks and list their ideas on chart paper. Students study samples in pairs and identify the...
Curated OER
Mineral Properties
In this earth science worksheet, students look at the properties that are common to identifying minerals and the types of observations one can make.
San Diego Natural History Museum
San Diego Natural History Museum: Mineral Matters: Grow Your Own Crystals
Here are step-by-step instructions on how to create crystals. This is a great experiment for students to use in learning about the structure and formation of crystals.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Minerals, Crystals, and Gems
Through this series of three lessons, learners will gain an understanding of the basics of mineral science. In their investigation they will also work through the scientific process as they practice their observation skills, form...
Other
Mineralogical Society of America: Mineral Identification Key: Mineral Properties
Scientists classify minerals based on a set of physical properties. Each of these properties is described in detail.
Children's Museum
Children's Museum of Indianapolis: Golden Cube Geo Mysteries
Learn how to test a material by using the five main properties of minerals to identify it at this interactive site.
Vision Learning
Visionlearning: Earth Science: Rocks and Minerals: Defining Minerals
Instructional module focusing on minerals. Discussion includes chemical composition, chemical structure, and the formation process. The site also includes an interactive practice quiz and links relating to the topic.
San Diego Natural History Museum
San Diego Natural History Museum: Mineral Matters: Hardness
Identifying a mineral by hardness? This website explains how to use the Mohs' hardness scale and provides examples.
James Madison University
James Madison University: Mineral Hardness and Cleavage
An explanation of the Mohs Hardness scale is followed by illustrations of crystal structures and cleavage.
James Madison University
James Madison University: Mineral Luster
Mineral photos depicting metallic and non-metallic luster. Includes shiny, glassy, and earthy examples.
Other
Webmineral.com: Mineral Luster
This site lists thirty different terms for describing the luster of minerals.