Nevada's nickname is "The Silver State" and metal is what this lesson is all about. Pupils will make a T-chart to discuss the differences between metals and minerals, then write and explain the properties of metal. They will get into...

Students read the story Gold Fever about the Gold Rush and write journal entries as if they were miners. For this Gold Rush lesson plan, students also pull out rocks from a back, and if they pick a gold one, they have struck it rich!

Students determine the specific gravity of Nevada minerals by testing them three separate times. They follow specific directions listed in the lesson plan as how to measure the minerals.

Students investigate how small amounts of minerals or metals are mined out of very large masses of rock using birdseed. They study the economics of valuable commodities. They look at environmentally conscious mining and how reclamation...