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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocks and Minerals

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pet Rocks

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students complete a variety of activities related to the physical characteristics of minerals. They classify and group candy, classify rocks and complete a Pet River Rock worksheet. Students try to guess which rock goes with each...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's Take a Rock Apart!

For Teachers K - 12th
Students examine a crushed rock and sort the minerals they find in that rock by color and other properties.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making & Breaking : The Rock Cycle

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the rock cycle and how rocks can change over time.  In this geotechnical engineering lesson students draw a diagram of the rock cycle.
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Lesson Five: The Earth, Rocks and Minerals

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Apply the principles of geology to a series of collaborative, hands-on class activities. Young earth scientists learn more about igneous, metamorphic, and sedentary rocks before classifying and weathering rocks that they find....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocks and Soil

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the physical properties of rocks. They explore the three different types of rocks and are able to compare and contrast their different properties. Students simulate the creation of sedimentary rock, they also...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fieldwork: Horizons Under Ground: Digging Through Wetland Soil

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners study the different soil types and describe the different soils in various environments.  In this soil lesson students walk to a reserve and discuss what they saw. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock Cycle SIOP Unit

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Students collect rocks, identify them, classify them, investigate their properties, and more. In this rocks lesson plan, students also experiment with soil and erosion and weather.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

SCRUMPTIOUS SOIL

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students engage in investigations that lead to the discovery that earth materials consist of rocks, soils, water, and air. They build models of soil profiles, using breakfast cereal and other edible materials. They observe how water...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What are Rocks and Minerals? How can they help us?

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders investigate the difference between rocks and minerals. They name the three kinds of rocks (sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic) and know the differences between them.
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Lesson Plan
Science Friday

How Boulders Are Born

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Want your class to rock? Then try this boulder activity. Pupils learn about a specific boulder field and use edible materials to demonstrate the geological processes that formed this unique feature. Weathering, erosion, and mass wasting...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocks and Minerals

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Learners 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

Erosion And the Cycling of Rocks And Minerals

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers investigate the concept of erosion by water in a problem solving activity. In small groups, they are assigned either sand, potting soil or rocks to construct a mountain that will hold up to a sprinkler can of water...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Soil Analysis

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students examine zip lock bags of clay, silt, and sand to determine its origin. They rotate through stations to compare different soils and perform oil separation and Tullgren funnel tests.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Formation of Soil

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students identify the different components that make up soil. In this earth science lesson, students create a pamphlet for next year's class. They analyze how erosion and weathering shape the Earth.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Take a Stab!

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Your geology class practices taking core samples of a potato to examine the stratigraphy. This is a terrific modeling lesson that helps youngsters visualize strata that cannot be seen from the surface of the ground. The directions...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

COMPARE SOILS BY GROWING PLANTS

For Teachers 6th - 8th
The student will identify the difference in the rate of plant growth in three soils that vary in organic matter.1. Obtain three to four flowerpots, different types of soil, a record chart, three to five beans for each pot, and water....
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Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

Discovering Rainforest Locations

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
How many rainforests are there, where are they, and do global factors effect their locations? These are great questions that have great answers. Children in grades four through eight use several different maps to determine why...
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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

Detecting Magnetic Materials in "Martian" Soil

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students simulate some of the Pathfinder experiments by devising methods of collecting and measuring magnetic substances in pseudo-Martian soil. The efficiency of each of the methods used to collect materials is evaluated in this...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Surface Water and Groundwater

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students examine distribution of water and minerals. In this surface and groundwater lesson, students conduct an experiment with fresh and salt water making hypothesis and drawing conclusions about minerals. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Is Mining

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Student develop a vocabulary of "mining words" and study about exploring and mining for minerals. They break into groups and are assigned an area at the "mine" to do their "exploration" for the valuable "coal". The coal is represented...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

PICTURE PERFECT PYRAMID

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students create a model of the USDA's Food Pyramid Guide, using shoe boxes. They bring an assortment of shoe boxes from home. Students are given a copy of the "Food Guide Pyramid." They wrap boxes for the bread group in white, the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Volcanic Activity in the U.S.

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students locate and map ten volcanoes in United States, create chart comparing volcanoes by last eruption, type of volcano, location, and interesting fact, and create Powerpoint slide show describing basic information about volcanoes and...