What makes a rock useful?

This complete lesson plan includes pre-assessment, learning activities (both live and internet), and post-assessment. (Note: The current video will probably be engaging to students, as it is built on an adventure/rescue story format. For a more direct approach, click on the sentence above the video box, "Looking for the old rocks and soil activity. It allows students to do on-screen "tests" of various rocks and other earth materials.) In the online interactive activity, students are asked to select the most suitable rock or other earth material to serve various purposes. After the student selects, the on-screen prompts tell him/her why the choice was correct or unsuitable.

Weblink address (URL):

What makes a rock useful?

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives:

Objectives:

To compare the properties of rocks and relate these properties to the use of rocks.
To describe and group rocks on the basis of their characteristics.

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level:

Understanding

Extension suggestions:

Extension:

Ask the children to devise an investigation question about their learning and to create a two-part conclusion relating to their findings.

Helpful Hints

Resources

Online activities:

Bitesize rocks and soils section: play, quiz

Worksheets:

Rocks and soils worksheet (PDF 73KB)

Other resources

Cards showing names of rocks (eg granite, sandstone)
Interactive whiteboard
Computers (one for each group)

References

Contributors:

Originator:

Ayers Institute for Learning & Innovation

eduToolbox® is a resource-sharing portal developed by the Ayers Institute for Learning & Innovation with collaborative support and funding from the Tennessee Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education's Math & Science Partnership program.