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 rocks. The...
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...
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 minerals,...
Virginia Department of Education
Igneous Rocks
High schoolers explore igneous rocks by observing rock samples and considering cooling rates and composition. The third installment of a five-part geology series culminates in an activity where learners use igneous rock characteristics...
Curated OER
Thirsty Rocks: Please "Porous" a Drink!
A simple activity goes a long way in demonstrating the property of porosity to your rock hounds. They will mass a specimen of dry sandstone and then soak it in a pre-measured amount of water. After seven minutes, they once again measure...
Curated OER
Rocks: Mineral Mixtures
A 22-slide set provides pretty much everything you need to teach the rock cycle except the actual specimens. All of the slides contain graphics or photographs to help describe the process, and most even have links to educational videos....
K-State Research and Extensions
Size It Up
The three types of rock aren't classic, punk, and hard. The chapter covers everything scholars need to know about rocks. Pupils compare rocks, learn about their formation, see how rocks change, and follow every step of the rock cycle....
Central Bucks School District
Igneous Rocks Lab
Searching for a simple igneous rocks experiment to assist pupils with rock classification based on texture and composition? In the activity, pupils view multiple rocks in various ways to determine texture and composition. They then...
K-State Research and Extensions
Field Trip Preparations
Scholars prepare for a field trip to collect rock specimens. They learn how to build proper display boxes, create road logs, and study various geology careers. This is the final chapter in a seven-chapter unit on geology and contains six...
Curated OER
Rock vs. Mineral - Lesson #1
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....
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Students bring rocks and minerals from home to investigate in the classroom. In this rocks and minerals lesson plan, students observe all the rocks and minerals brought into the class and answer 7 questions about the features of the...
Curated OER
Create a Classroom Exhibit: Rocks and Minerals
Students bring in rocks and minerals from home. They observe them and describe them carefully, completing a worksheet. Finally, a classroom exhibit is created.
Curated OER
Rocks and weathered rocks
Students connect rock and mineral formation with the changes rocks and minerals undergo at the earth's surface. They observe changes produced by weathering and relating these observations to chemical processes such as oxidation,...
Curated OER
Species and Specimens: Exploring Local Biodiversity
Students practice skills essential to all scientific investigation: carefully observing and collecting data. They become field biologists in a series of hands-on activities to collect and identify specimens, and survey and calculate the...
Curated OER
Rock Around the House
Pupils discover the three types of rock. They weigh and examine rock specimens.
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 fudge to model the...
Science Friday
Mineral Madness
Science does not need to be as hard as a rock. Pupils test 10 different minerals to determine their properties. The learners observe luster, streak, hardness, and fluorescence for each specimen. Afterwards, they compare and contrast the...
Curated OER
Rocks, Rocks & More Rocks
Second graders work together to examine different types of rocks. They sort rocks according to their characteristics and properties.
Curated OER
This is Your Rock, This is My Rock
Young scholars study the identity of rocks and minerals that can be found in Utah. They examine the characteristics that identify the rocks and minerals by using a hand lens and write them down on an index card. They role play as...
Curated OER
Rock vs. Mineral - Lesson #2
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...
Curated OER
Crinoids: Flowers f the Iowa Seas
Learners study the rocks and fossils associated with the geologic landscape of Iowa. In this rocks and fossils lesson, students examine fossils that would be found in the Iowa landscape that show evidence of marine invertebrates such as...
Curated OER
An Activity to Introduce the Geoscience Perspective
Young scholars examine various rock specimens assuming the viewpoints of various individuals--sculptor, landowner, preacher, etc. They study the rock, and then prepare a list of observations and questions. They summarize and share...
Curated OER
Density lab
Students relate the concept of density in relation to the rocks that make up the Earth. They determine the density of various rock specimens and answer assessment questions.
Curated OER
Structure of the Earth
Eighth graders explain the difference between igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. They identify the stages in the rock cycle. They discover the origin of rocks as well.