Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Observing,comparing and Classifying Rocks
An activity where students in teams observe and classify different types of rocks.
Read Works
Read Works: Earth Rocks
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read about three different types of rocks: sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in classifying and categorizing.
SRI International
Performance Assessment Links in Science: Classifying Rocks
This is a performance task where students sort and classify rocks based on their properties, then demonstrate how they can transfer their understanding to decide on ways they might sort and classify other types of objects.
![Indiana University Bloomington: Is It a Rock or Mineral? [Pdf] Lesson Plan](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Indiana University Bloomington: Is It a Rock or Mineral? [Pdf] Lesson Plan")
Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington: Is It a Rock or Mineral? [Pdf]
In this lesson, learners will compare types of candy to learn about geological classification. Students will classify and sort different materials by their composition and physical properties.
Soft Schools
Soft Schools: Science Games: Explore Rocks Alphabet Sorting Game
Sort these rocks into alphabetical order and beat your best time!
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Rocks and Soils
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this unit children should come to recognize that underneath all surfaces is rock which they may not be able to see, that rocks get broken down into pebbles and soils which we can often see, and that...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: Department of Mineral Sciences
Useful interface and gateway into the research collections of the Department of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Find information, image galleries, exhibits, specimens, and related resources about...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Step: Rocks a Lesson in Inquiry
For this activity, students sort and classify rocks in small groups, and record questions they have. The class will sort the questions into investigatory and non-investigatory questions. They will choose one to investigate, make a...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Step: Rock Identification and Usage
In this activity, young scholars explore rocks using their five senses. They sort them into groups, learn about landforms, and learn how rocks are used by humans. Their discoveries are recorded in their science notebooks.
Other
Leeds University: Teaching Resources in Structural Geology
A large collection of resources for teaching structural geology. Information is sorted into topic headings, including basic principles of organization, basic structures (folds, faults, shear zones), virtual field trips, strain, geology...
US Geological Survey
U.s. Geological Survey: Graded Bedding [Pdf]
This activity introduces students to the concept of sorting materials in different mediums and the sedimentary feature called graded bedding. Students will discover that water is a good medium to separate and sort particles and that...
Amethyst Galleries
Amethyst Galleries: Minerals by Name
Use this resource to look up any mineral by name to see its picture along with history, class, uses, related minerals, and physical properties. Just choose from this alphabetically sorted list of minerals.
Other
The Stoa Consortium: Acropolis: North Slope
When most people think of the Acropolis, they probably envision, first and foremost, the temples of Athena (the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, and the temple of Athena Nike) on the top of the citadel. But it is important to realize that the...