Science 4 Inquiry
Rocks Makin' Rocks: Rock Cycle Simulation
Scholars review prior knowledge before completing a hands-on simulation of the rock cycle. They write stories or songs summarizing their simulations to demonstrate mastery.
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...
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...
Columbus City Schools
Rocking the Cycle!
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...
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...
Columbus City Schools
Sedimentary Rocks
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...
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...
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Volcanoes!
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...
Curated OER
Thirsty Rocks: Please "Porous" a Drink!
Discover what it means when a stone is porous or permeable. In this geology instructional activity, investigate a sandstone and complete a lab exercise which displays how porous and permeable a stone can actually be then measure these...
Curated OER
Volcanoes: Third Grade Lessons Plans and Activities
Discover how rocks are formed from volcanoes during a geology pre-lab activity. Third graders describe the volcanic rock samples and creating a model of Mt. Lassen, located in California. The lesson culminates in...
Education Outside
Soil Composition & Discovery
Organic or mineral? How does the matter matter? Second graders use their knowledge of the rock cycle to label the different components in garden soil.
Curated OER
Modeling the Rock Cycle
Students explore the differences in sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks. They discuss the rock cycle of the different formations. Students discuss how rock is formed into different shapes. They explore, predict, and create each...
Curated OER
Volcanoes: Fifth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Fifth graders explore volcanoes and the rocks they produce using the Internet. The lab portion of the lesson prompts young scientists to compare and describe igneous rocks. Next, they critique a pair or more of...
California Academy of Science
Carbon Cycle Poster
Humans can have a big impact on the environment, specifically the influence they have on the carbon cycle. First, the class will define and discuss each of the earths four major spheres, the biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and...
Curated OER
Processes of the Rock Cycle
Students explore, predict, and create each major rock form (sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous) with colored modeling clay, discover cycle of rock formation, and examine important relationships of heat and pressure in rock development.
Curated OER
Let's Take a Rock Apart!
Students examine a crushed rock and sort the minerals they find in that rock by color and other properties.
Curated OER
The Water Cycle--Using Inspiration Software
Third graders describe and label the water cycle, and list how water changes from one form to another; students use Inspiration Software to label a blank water cycle diagram.
Science 4 Inquiry
Carbon and Climate
The carbon cycle is natural and has happened for millions of years, so can humans change it? Young scientists play the role of carbon as they travel through the carbon cycle. They complete two rounds, once before the industrial...
Columbus City Schools
What is in that?
Invite your class to dig in to an engaging journey into the world of mining! Here you'll find the tools to equip young miners with knowledge of soil, rocks, and minerals, as well as types of mining operations. To round things out, the...
Port Jefferson School District
Water and Climate
Dive into a lesson on the hydrosphere with this Powerpoint presentation. Building on prior knowledge of the water cycle, young scientists learn what happens to water after it falls as precipitation and explore the...
Curated OER
Layering the Soil
Students study and classify soil. In this soil science lesson, students classify soil by texture and size and study soil horizons. Students label the soil types with their specific soil horizon and learn about permafrost. Students...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: Fifth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Fifth graders continue their investigation of the plate tectonics cycle with an exploration of the movement of Earth's crust. During the lab, young geologists conduct an experiment to discover the result of different types of...
Curated OER
Volcanoes: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities
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...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: Sixth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Here is a set of pre-lab, lab, and post-lab lesson plans on plate tectonics. After completing the previous labs on volcanoes and earthquakes, sixth graders use the gained knowledge to explore plate boundaries and the movement of...