Instructional module focusing on minerals. Discussion includes chemical composition, chemical structure, and the formation process. The site also includes an interactive practice quiz and links relating to the topic.

Learn how weathering changes rocks.

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Chemical weathering wears down rocks through chemical reactions.

A colorful diagram of the rock cycle showing the stages that rocks go through as they are transformed by different processes such as weathering, lithification, and crystallization.

Explains what standing rocks are, how they are formed by erosion, and gives the names of some well-known ones in Indiana.

The Gravestone Project, part of the global citizen science program called EarthTrek, seeks volunteers to visit cemeteries around the world and collect scientific data on how marble gravestones are weathering.

In this interactive tutorial, you will learn about the types of weathering and erosion that rocks and landforms undergo. This will lead to a discussion of soil and the types of soil. Lastly, you will learn about mass movements of soil,...

Smithsonian in the Classroom presents Building Up, Breaking Down. Teachers can download this comprehensive teaching package in which students investigate how buildings weather. See what happens to a building once it has been erected....

Practice identifying the visual characteristics of rocks.

This hands-on activity explores five different forms of erosion (chemical, water, wind, glacier and temperature). Students rotate through stations and model each type of erosion on rocks, soils and minerals. The students record their...

Everything you need to know about sedimentary rocks and the processes by which they are created, including weathering, soils, environments, and classification.

This series of photos dramatically illustrates the process of mechanical weathering known as rock abrasion. Taken over a 100 year span, you can see the effects of rock abrasion on Jump-off Joe, a sea stack at Nye Beach in Oregon. The...

Olivine-bearing rocks, similar to those found in Hawaii, have been found on Mars. Use this site to learn more about what has been found on Mars.

In this investigation, middle schoolers will use sand to build a mountain and then use a straw and watering can to simulate wind erosion and water erosion. Students will make observations and then propose ways to slow the erosion and/or...

While visiting three separate sites in or near the Minnesota River valley, students will question the deposition environment of rock types found and the creation of the valley itself. Students will discover find types of rock found far...

Slope failure is the downslope movement of rock debris and soil in response to gravitational stresses. Three major types of mass wasting are classified by the type of downslope movement. The types of movement, falls, slides, and flows...

Young students are introduced to the complex systems of the Earth through numerous lessons on its natural resources, processes, weather, climate and landforms. Key earth science topics include rocks, soils and minerals, water and natural...

This interactive website explores the various soil layers and introduces you to the lifeforms that live in those soil layers.

After completing this instructional activity, students will understand the source and the process for the formation of soil, the different types of soil, and the components of soil.

This site offers a wealth of online textbook-related materials that encourage the discovery of science in the world around us. Enter the site to access material on specific topics. Each section contains reading material (complete with...

This lesson is a demonstration in how geological layers form and erode using just a stack of towels. The author describes this lesson as GeoArt, which means one looks at geologic processes through both a scientific and an artistic lens.

Earth Science teachers will combine field observations with the information given in the classroom to interpret the geologic history of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona.

What is erosion? Here's a brief look at the process of erosion ..what it is, how it happens, effects. Useful for the younger researcher.

Soils may be formed in place from rock or formed in weathered rock and minerals that have been transported from where the original rock occurred.