National Park Service
Rock Ranking
Junior geologists sort rocks and soil. They separate a sample of river gravel by size, shape, color, and other characteristics. To include Common Core standards, you could have little ones graph the number of particles in each sample.
Curated OER
Everybody Needs a Rock
Students describe and classify rocks that they have chosen. They estimate and find the mass of their rocks.
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Everybody Needs a Rock
Here is a lesson plan that rocks! Young scientists choose a rock and list words that describe it. They estimate the mass of their rocks and rank them within a group. They measure their rocks for volume and write a story that somehow...
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Sampling Rocks
Students examine how to take a sample by looking at rocks in the schoolyard. In this sampling activity, students discuss ways to classify rocks by color, size, and weight. They think about how many rocks would make a good sample of...
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Everybody Needs a Rock
Students, after making quantitative and qualitative observations of their rocks, construct a Venn diagram or dichotomous key to classify their rocks.
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Classification is Sweet
Pupils classify, weight and organize items during this lesson. This lesson works great as or with an introduction of the Periodic Table of Elements.
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Bias Sampling
Students demonstrate how the results of a poll or other scientific study can be biased by selecting special types of people to respond or by asking only certain questions.
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Bias Sampling
Pupils explore statistics by conducting a scientific study. In this data analysis lesson, students conduct a class poll about popular foods of their classmates. Pupils complete a worksheet and discuss how bias opinions affect the outcome...
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What is Soil?
Third graders examine what makes soil by creating a Venn Diagram. In this Earth environment activity, 3rd graders identify the different components that soil is made from. Students bring soil from their homes to examine and create...
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Plastic Wrap
Students compare the price and quality of different kinds of plastic kitchen wraps and then rank them from best to worst. They take into account how well it comes out of the roll, if it seals well, it is tangles, how much weight it...