Unit Plan
Columbus City Schools

Rocking the Cycle!

For Teachers 6th Standards
Time to rock out! Discover the "life" cycle of the average rock using an illustrative stations lab and stimulating pairs game. Roll the dice to determine your fate: will it be melting in magma or chilling out to form igneous rock? The...
Lesson Plan
Berkshire Museum

Backyard Rocks

For Teachers 2nd - 6th Standards
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...
Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Rocks & Minerals

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
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...
Activity
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Teach Engineering

Ranking the Rocks for Desired Properties

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Math rocks! Cavern design teams determine the rankings of rock types based upon desirability points. The points are connected to the properties of the rocks and their usefulness in building a cavern. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring How Rocks Are Formed

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
These lessons produced by the Illinois State Museum are quite good. In this one, third and fourth graders are introduced to the three basic types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. They perform activities which help them...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rock On!

For Teachers 4th - 6th
After five class sessions, young scientists will be able to identify common rock types: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. This plan involves hands-on activities, includes various handouts and worksheets, and requires there to be...
Unit Plan
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Brooklyn Children’s Museum

Volcanoes!

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Give young geologists an up close and personal look at volcanoes with a series of hands-on earth science lessons. Whether they are investigating the properties of igneous rocks, building their own volcanoes, or making...
Unit Plan
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Brooklyn Children’s Museum

Rocks and Minerals in Our Lives

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
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...
Unit Plan
Columbus City Schools

Sedimentary Rocks

For Teachers 6th Standards
Turn your class discussion of rock formation from ho-hum to holy hornfels! Junior geologists gain experience in identifying rock types and rock origins, with an emphasis in hypothesizing the environment needed to form certain...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Classifying Rocks

For Teachers 5th
A well-designed lesson plan on rock classification awaits you. In it, fifth graders are divided into groups. Each group is given a box of rocks which they must sort into two categories. They use the "Rock 'n Roll Rule," in making their...
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....
Unit Plan
Columbus City Schools

It's the Heat and the Pressure?

For Teachers 6th Standards
Ready for a change? Give a comprehensive collection of metamorphic materials a try! With the assortment of printables and lab activities, you won't be under pressure to keep things lively. The unit culminates by having...
Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Volcanoes: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities

For Teachers K Standards
In the pre-lab, kindergarteners mimic the movements of the eruption of a volcano and discover various volcanoes around the United States. Then, pupils sort different types of volcanic rocks in the lab before learning how volcanoes grow...
Unit Plan
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Curated OER

Volcanoes: Fourth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities

For Teachers 4th Standards
Young geologists begin exploring volcanoes of different structures and states: active, extinct, or dormant. During the lab, they make three models and compare different types of volcanoes, including composite, cinder cone, and...
Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Plate Tectonics: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities

For Teachers K Standards
This unit focuses primarily on plate tectonics and plate boundaries surrounding continents. It contains pre- and post-lab sections that walk young geologists through plate movements in order to visualize what's going on inside Earth.
Lesson Plan
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Montana State University

Sea Floor to Summit

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Who knew that mountain formation could be so entertaining? Leanr how mountains form with a resource on Mount Everest. Activities to guide learning include a simulation, project, videos, coloring activities, and worksheets.