Young geologists learn how to use an identification key in order to classify rocks. The key is designed to help them classify rocks into three types: ignesous, metamorphic, and sediimentary. After an initial teacher-led demonstration,...

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...

Get your classroom rocking with this four-lesson earth science unit. Through a series of shared reading activities and hands-on investigations, young geologists learn about the three types of rocks and the unique properties of each.

Young geologists utilize Moh's hardness scale to help them correctly sort and classify different types of rocks. This instructional activity has everything you need, including an excellent example of the Mohs' Hardness Test, to...

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...

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...

These lessons produced by the Illinois State Museum are quite good. In this one, third and fourth graders are introduced to the three basic types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. They perform activities which help them...

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...

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...

In the pre-lab, kindergarteners mimic the movements of the eruption of a volcano and discover various volcanoes around the United States. Then, pupils sort different types of volcanic rocks in the lab before learning how volcanoes grow...

Young geologists begin exploring volcanoes of different structures and states: active, extinct, or dormant. During the lab, they make three models and compare different types of volcanoes, including composite, cinder cone, and...

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...

Heat things up in your earth science class with this collaborative activity on volcanoes. After first being introduced to the different types of volcanoes and how they are formed, young geologists work in small groups to...

Did you know there are 20 volcanoes erupting at any given time? Pupils look at various igneous rocks, read local geologic maps, and determine if their area has a history of volcanic activity. A reading passage and analysis questions...

When judging diversity of an ecosystem, both species evenness and species richness must contribute. After a discussion of diversity and a guided example using the Shannon-Weaver function, scholars use the same function on two other...

Fifth graders continue their investigation of the plate tectonics cycle with an exploration of the movement of Earth's crust. During the lab, young geologists conduct an experiment to discover the result of different types of...

First of three lessons, this is a great start to a unit on energy. As you demonstrate, learners discover different types of energy and how it is converted from one form to another. They then focus in on the generation of electricity by...

The Sierra Mountains in Nevada and the Tetons in Wyoming originally formed as fault block mountains. In order to visualize these fault blocks, pupils use construction paper to create layers of earth. They cut the paper models and form...

Sift through soil and learn about why it's important for organic processes. After discussing what makes up soil, such as the living organisms and what types of soil have more nutrients, kids sample layers of mulch and deeper soil to...

Seismologists use the direction and arrival times of p waves and s waves to determine the distance to the source of an earthquake. The engaging instructional activity has students line up to form human waves. Through different movements...

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...

After challenging themselves to correctly choose the form of erosion and length of time required for a given landform to develop, earth science class members model mechanical and chemical weathering with various lab demonstrations over...

An interesting lesson on different types of soils is here for you. In it, learners discuss what soil is, and consider three piles of soil - clay, sand, and loam. During the rest of the lesson, third graders discover all sorts of...