Just a Bag of Rocks

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...

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...

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...

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...

It's okay to play with your food—just this once! Scholars design and create meshes and chutes to sort pasta by size and shape. They test their designs and make improvements as necessary.

Students complete a variety of activities related to the physical characteristics of minerals. They classify and group candy, classify rocks and complete a Pet River Rock worksheet. Students try to guess which rock goes with each...

Students test and identify minerals according to their physical properties. In this mineral analysis lesson, students brainstorm ways to identify rocks and list their ideas on chart paper. Students study samples in pairs and identify the...

What are rocks made of? Where do rocks come from? What is an igneous rock? These are just some of the questions answered by the scientists of the U.S. Geologic Survey.

Rocks hold evidence of Earth's past. A three-step guide describes the process of creating a rock collection. It provides a data collection sheet to make notes about each sample.

Are you looking for a good, solid lesson plan on sedimentary rocks? This one, produced by the Illinois State Museum, is just such a lesson plan. Middle schoolers identify common rocks and minerals by analyzing sediments from local water...