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...
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...
Columbus City Schools
Igneous Rock
These rocks are HOT! Well, they used to be, anyway. Take young geologists on a two-week journey through the life and times of the average igneous rock. Lab groups work together to hypothesize about intrusive and extrusive igneous...
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...
Columbus City Schools
It's the Heat and the Pressure?
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...
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...
Curated OER
Earth: The Water Planet
Students elicit data on the water cycle, ocean topography, and island formation in this six lesson unit. The ocean floor and the properties of water are examined through a variety of discussions and hands-on experiments.
National Park Service
Caves, Canyons, Cactus, and Critters
Mother Nature's Gravel Company is open for business! The unit includes four lessons covering weathering and erosion. Experiments are simple to complete and young geologists compare notes to see who makes the biggest ice...
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...
Columbus City Schools
Thinking Like A Soil Scientist
Ready to roll up those sleeves and get your hands dirty? Dirty with soil science content, that is! Overcome those "But it's just dirt" objections with a trip outside to collect soil samples for some in-class analysis. Use the...
Curated OER
Volcanoes: Sixth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Bring a set of pre-lab, lab, and post-lab lesson plans on volcanoes to your earth science unit. Sixth graders explore the three types of volcanoes found on Earth, plot the specific locations of these volcanoes on a map, and...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Rock Cycle
This tutorial explains the rock cycle--from beginning to end! It is full of activities, assessments, games, slideshows and all kinds of interactive material. Learn what rocks are made of and how they change from one form to another....
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Rocks and Processes of the Rock Cycle
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Instructional videos, grade-level texts, interactive activities, and quick assessments about rocks and processes of the rock cycle.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Sedimentary Rocks and Fossil Fuels
Learn about the rock cycle, sedimentary rocks, and fossil fuels in this tutorial.
CPALMS
Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: Weathering, Erosion, and the Rock Cycle
Learn about the processes involved throughout the creation of sedimentary rock.
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: Rocks and Landforms
Eight hands-on lessons module where students learn about rocks and landforms. These inquiry-based investigations explore the different types of rocks, how they are formed, the different types of landforms, and the effects of glaciers on...
Scholastic
Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Landforms, Rocks & Minerals: Sedimentary
A slideshow, a karaoke song to sing along to, and a short multiple-choice quiz on sedimentary rocks and how they are formed.
University of Oxford (UK)
Oxford Museum of Modern History: Rocks
The study of rocks is called petrology. Rocks may have fossils in them, and they are made up of minerals, but petrologists like looking at the rocks themselves. Just click on one of the link to find out more about rocks and the rock cycle.