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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Miners of the Prairie: The Days of Shaft Mining in Northern Illinois

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the life and times of a coal miner in Illinois through the analysis of primary source documents and images.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Alkaline-Earth Metals

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars study the importance of alkaline earth metals.  In this metals lesson students research the minerals that are essential for human health. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mined or Grown?

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders differentiate between raw materials that are cultivated and those that are mined. They collaborate with their eighth grade peers to learn more about the mining complexities at the end of their mineral identification unit.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fairly Simple Rock Identification

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students study ways in which to identify rocks. They complete a number of activities that introduce them to various ways of identifying minerals in rocks.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Health: Basic Minerals

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine minerals as food nutrients and discover their importance as food sources in the diet. Among the learning options are completing worksheets, creating recipes, making billboards, and actually preparing some recipes rich...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Density of Minerals

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students determine the mass, volume, and density of two different mineral samples. Students show data and calculations as well as answer questions about the mineral identities.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

EASY (AND CHEAP) CRYSTAL GROWING

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students grow salt crystals by making a saturated solution of table salt and let the solution sit around and evaporate.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Vitamin C and Protein Analysis

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students analyze various beverages to determine vitamin C content. Students research diseases resulting from vitamin C deficiencies and identify countries most affected.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rockin? Chalk (Integrating science - make own chalk)

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students use plaster of Paris, talc, and cornstarch to create their own chalk. They hypothesize what mixture of ingredients produce the "best" chalk. Students discuss what they think are the characteristics of the "best" chalk.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Show Me the Halite!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Introduce middle school mineralologists to halite. The opening of the lesson involves a video and worksheet to which there are no links. However, you can replace the video with any informational clip that you can find online about halite...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Amazing metals: Nevada quarter reverse

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Nevada's nickname is "The Silver State" and metal is what this lesson is all about. Pupils will make a T-chart to discuss the differences between metals and minerals, then write and explain the properties of metal. They will get into...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Is Viscosity?

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students experiment with the visocosity of corn syrup, mineral oil, vegetable oil, water, and honey. They research viscosity before beginning. Pupils draw the conclusion that the marble sinks more slowly in the liquids with greater...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Museum Adventure WebQuest

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students discover the background and properties of minerals. They examine fluorite and record data after testing it. They use the internet to help them discover information about minerals.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Burst of Light

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students discover the many uses of minerals in industry. They use minerals to conduct flame tests and to demostrate color. They practice safety tips in the lab.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bring A Rock

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars investigate rocks and minerals. They collect a rock, describe it in writing, and in small groups divide their group of rocks into subgroups based on their team's classification.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Extraction (What's in the cereal you eat?)

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students conduct an investigation with cereal that simulates the extraction of minerals from rock. They mix iron fortified cereal until the iron is extracted and shows on a magnetic stick that is painted white.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock vs. Mineral - Lesson #2

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Students visually distinguish between those rocks that appear to be made of one substance, vs. those that appear to have more than one. This leads to the distinctions that indicate the different types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock vs. Mineral - Lesson #1

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Students describe visual, textural, and other physical qualities of sample rock specimens. Using compare and contrast skills, students sort and classify the specimens according to their assessments of the qualities present in each....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocks and Minerals

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students are able to describe earth processes (e.g., rusting, weathering, erosion) that have affected selected physical features in students, neighborhoods. They are able to identify various earth structures (e.g., mountains, faults,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Much Is Too Much? How Little Is Too Little?

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners perform a series of experiments which show that plants require nutrients in certain quantities. They also cooperatively read materials on the nutrient requirements of plants, fertilizers, composting, and soil management, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock Pioneers

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students explore geology by participating in a field trip exercise. For this rock analysis lesson, students discuss rock formations and how water moves rocks according to the tide. Students conduct a tide activity by marking a rock of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

When Something's Missing: Diagnosing Vitamin Deficiencies

For Teachers 6th - 9th
The New York Times "Education" section posts an extensive lesson on vitamin and mineral deficiencies. It involves class discussion, examination of food packaging labels, and the reading of a blog post about Vitamin D. The highlight of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geology Rocks

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discuss information relating to Illinois geology. They examine top mineral resources in Illinois to find detailed information about geodes and where they can be found. Students complete geode lab to explore external structure of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crystal Growing

For Teachers 1st - 9th
Students grow crystals and document their observations by recording timeing and growth. Additional characteristics of crystals are observed under a black light, by growing under different conditions and mineral content is determined.

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