Dig deep
View Sequence overviewStudents will:
- identify and sort rocks according to observable features.
- recognise that rocks are made of one or more minerals.
Students will represent their understanding as they:
- draw a labelled diagram of a rock.
- describe features of rocks.
- describe how rocks have been sorted and classified.
In this lesson, assessment is formative.
Feedback might focus on:
- students’ descriptions of rocks. Do they use adjectives to describe factual observations (‘it is grey and smooth with one jagged edge’) rather than notions (‘it is lovely’)?
- students’ classification of rocks. Do they classify the rocks according to factual observations? Can they think of multiple ways to classify the same rocks (colour, shape, texture, grain size…)?
Whole class
Class science journal (digital or hard-copy)
A tub/basket of rocks, containing at least enough rocks for one between two students. See Curating a collection of rocks for Lessons 4 and 5 on the Preparing for this sequence tab for advice on preparing a selection of rocks for the purpose of this lesson.
One rock selected from the tub to be your ‘pet rock’, that you can distinguish from the others.
The video ROCKS and MINERALS for Kids - What are their differences? (4:09)
Each group
A rock
Magnifying glass(es)
A collection of 6-10 rocks for students to sort and classify. See Curating a collection of rocks for Lessons 4 and 5 on the Preparing for this sequence tab for advice on preparing a selection of rocks for the purpose of this lesson.
Each student
Individual science journal (digital or hard-copy)
Lesson
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkRe-orient
Recall the previous lesson, focusing on the small rocks/stones found in the soil samples and what students noticed about them.
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkIdentifying and constructing questions is the creative driver of the inquiry process. It allows students to explore what they know and how they know it. During the Inquire phase of the LIA Framework, the Question routine allows for past activities to be reviewed and to set the scene for the investigation that students will undertake. The use of effective questioning techniques can influence students’ view and interpretation of upcoming content, open them to exploration and link to their current interests and science capital.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to spend some time considering the mindset of students at the start of each Inquire phase. What do you want students to be thinking about, what do they already know and what is the best way for them to approach the task? What might tap into their curiosity?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkPet rocks
Show students the rock you have selected as a ‘pet rock’. Explain that you know it so well that it could be placed among other rocks and you would be able to pick it out.
Invite a student to hide the pet rock amongst the tub/basket of rocks.
Students vote on whether or not they think you will be able to find your pet rock in the tub/basket. Discuss their reasoning, drawing out the alternative conception that all rocks are the same.
Search the tub or basket for your pet rock, thinking aloud during the process and pointing out features of some of the rocks. For example: Mine is a different colour...this one has a similar shape to mine...this one is too big/small.
Select your rock from the basket and describe in detail how you know it is your pet rock e.g. I know this is my pet rock because...it has speckles of shiny black, pink and white, it’s small so I can close my hand around it, and it has this really pointy end.
Pose the question: If I gave you a rock, do you think you be able to find it when it gets put back into the basket with all the others? How might you do that?
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkThe Investigate routine provides students with an opportunity to explore the key ideas of science, to plan and conduct an investigation, and to gather and record data. The investigations are designed to systematically develop content knowledge and skills through increasingly complex processes of structured inquiry, guided inquiry and open inquiry approaches. Students are encouraged to process data to identify trends and patterns and link them to the real-world context of the teaching sequence.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment (Launch phase) that identified the alternative conceptions that students held. Are there activities that challenge these ideas and provide openings for discussion? What content knowledge and skills do students need to be able to complete the final (Act phase) task? How could you systematically build these through the investigation routines? Are there opportunities to build students’ understanding and skills in the science inquiry processes through the successive investigations?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkRock observation
Ask students to share their ideas on how they might get to know their rock well enough to be able to pick it out of the basket. Describe to them how you got to know your pet rock.
Discuss the difference between factual observations such as "my rock has white swirls on it" or "my rock is smooth, except for this edge" and notions such as "my rock is pretty".
Distribute a small rock from the basket and a magnifying glass to each pair of students.
Students observe their rock very carefully, so they will be able to find it again when it is placed back in the tub/basket. They:
- use the magnifying glass to examine the rock in detail, looking for any distinct patterns/grains, colour/markings and scratches.
- describe the rock in detail to their partner.
- individually draw a labelled sketch of their rock.
Allow teams to complete their observations before returning their rock to the tub/basket.
Give the rocks a gentle shake/stir and invite one team at a time to find their rock and explain the features of their rock that enabled them to find it. Be prepared with prompts, or to offer assistance to teams who are having difficulty picking out their rock.
As a class, discuss and compare the different features of the students’ rocks.
- Who had a rock that was…black? White? Grey? Brown? Rough? Smooth? Shiny?
- Were there any other features you noticed about your rock? Did it have layers/lines? Was it a particular shape? Did it have particular marks or crystals/sparkles that made it different?
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkFollowing an investigation, the Integrate routine provides time and space for data to be evaluated and insights to be synthesized. It reveals new insights, consolidates and refines representations, generalises context and broadens students’ perspectives. It allows student thinking to become visible and opens formative feedback opportunities. It may also lead to further questions being asked, allowing the Inquire phase to start again.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment that was undertaken during the Launch phase. Consider if alternative conceptions could be used as a jumping off point to discussions. How could students represent their learning in a way that would support formative feedback opportunities? Could small summative assessment occur at different stages in the teaching sequence?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkWhat’s in a rock?
Hold up a rock and ask students: What are rocks made of? Prompt further thinking by asking What are the bits made of?
View the video ROCKS and MINERALS for Kids - What are their differences? (4:09), stopping at 2:51. Discuss the main points of the video, focusing on:
- how rocks are the solid parts of Earth.
- rocks are made of one or more minerals.
- how geologists use the features/characteristics of rocks and minerals to tell them apart from each other (e.g. diamonds are very hard, talc is soft and used to make powder).
Secret mission: classifying rocks
Explain that students will examine and classify rocks based on a secret classification system of their own design. They will then attempt to figure out how other groups have classified their rocks.
Distribute a collection of rocks and magnifying glasses to each team and ask them to:
- examine and discuss the rocks as a team.
- select one rock feature/characteristic (e.g. crystal size, texture, shape, colour).
- group the rocks accordingly, but without labelling the groupings.
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Once the teams have grouped their rocks undertake a gallery walk, visiting each group and attempting to decipher the classification system they have used. Discuss students’ ideas as you undertake the walk, stopping at each, or specifically-chosen, collections.
- How do you think these rocks have been grouped?
- Do we think these rocks are made of the same or different minerals? Why?
- Are there any rocks that were difficult to group, because they could have been put into more than one group?
- It might be helpful to have some sample rocks you could demonstrate with, for example a rock that is mostly one colour, with flecks of another colour in it, or a rock that is smooth, but has a rough, broken edge.
- Can we see a different way to group these same rocks?
Reflect on the lesson
You might:
- review the TWLH chart. Record what students have learned about rocks and answer any questions.
- add to the class word wall vocabulary related to rocks (solid parts of Earth made of minerals) and characteristics of rocks (shape, colour, feel, weight etc.)
- discuss how students were thinking and working like scientists during the lesson. Focus on classifying objects (rocks) by observable features.
Mineral or rock?
How are rocks and minerals different?
Rocks are natural combinations of one or more minerals. They can be made of just one mineral, such as quartzite, or a group of different minerals, such as granite (quartz, feldspar and mica). We can think about it in terms of baking a cake—the mixture and proportions of wet and dry ingredients can vary, but in the end it's all cake.
Rocks have no set chemical composition or atomic structure. For example, no two pieces of granite are the same. The types of minerals found in a rock, and the way the minerals are arranged, gives the rock its name and its physical features. Common rocks include basalt, limestone, and sandstone.
Rocks are classified into three main groups according to how they are formed:
- igneous rock is formed through the crystallisation of molten rock—called magma when it’s below the ground, and lava above ground.
- sedimentary rock is formed through the settling and bonding of particles.
- metamorphic rock is formed when heat and pressure are applied to pre-existing rocks.
Rocks are constantly changing from one form to another through Earth’s natural processes (some fast, others very slow), such as storms, flowing water in rivers, the freezing and thawing of glaciers, and volcanic eruptions. These processes cause rocks to melt, dissolve, freeze, or break down (weather and erode), due to heat and pressure or exposure to the elements.
The ingredients of a rock (its minerals) and the way that those ingredients are held together control the properties of the rock. Given that rocks are mixtures, their properties can be variable (and affected by the degree of weathering).
Minerals are the building blocks of rocks—the ingredients, if you will. They are naturally occurring inorganic elements or compounds having an orderly internal structure and characteristic chemical composition, crystal form, and physical properties. They all have different shapes, sizes, colours and properties.
Some commonly used minerals:
- Calcite—the primary component in the production of cement for the construction of buildings, roads, and bridges.
- Gypsum—used in plasterboard for the construction of walls and ceilings.
- Halite—commonly known as table salt and used for food preservation.
- Graphite—lead in pencils and is common in lubricants and greases due to its lubricating qualities.
- Quartz—very pure versions used to make glass.
- Hematite (iron ore)—steel, cutlery, cooking pans, bridges, building frames.
Minerals in rocks may appear as grains or crystals, but many are too small to see. Most crystals in rocks do not look like big crystals with flat external faces but they can be ‘sparkly’ where light reflects off a face.
A gemstone is a mineral that may be rare, resilient (tough) and beautiful, particularly when cut or polished. While there are over 4000 known minerals, only 100 have the hardness and stability to be used as gemstones, and of those, only 20 are commonly used in jewellery, including diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies.
Rocks are natural combinations of one or more minerals. They can be made of just one mineral, such as quartzite, or a group of different minerals, such as granite (quartz, feldspar and mica). We can think about it in terms of baking a cake—the mixture and proportions of wet and dry ingredients can vary, but in the end it's all cake.
Rocks have no set chemical composition or atomic structure. For example, no two pieces of granite are the same. The types of minerals found in a rock, and the way the minerals are arranged, gives the rock its name and its physical features. Common rocks include basalt, limestone, and sandstone.
Rocks are classified into three main groups according to how they are formed:
- igneous rock is formed through the crystallisation of molten rock—called magma when it’s below the ground, and lava above ground.
- sedimentary rock is formed through the settling and bonding of particles.
- metamorphic rock is formed when heat and pressure are applied to pre-existing rocks.
Rocks are constantly changing from one form to another through Earth’s natural processes (some fast, others very slow), such as storms, flowing water in rivers, the freezing and thawing of glaciers, and volcanic eruptions. These processes cause rocks to melt, dissolve, freeze, or break down (weather and erode), due to heat and pressure or exposure to the elements.
The ingredients of a rock (its minerals) and the way that those ingredients are held together control the properties of the rock. Given that rocks are mixtures, their properties can be variable (and affected by the degree of weathering).
Minerals are the building blocks of rocks—the ingredients, if you will. They are naturally occurring inorganic elements or compounds having an orderly internal structure and characteristic chemical composition, crystal form, and physical properties. They all have different shapes, sizes, colours and properties.
Some commonly used minerals:
- Calcite—the primary component in the production of cement for the construction of buildings, roads, and bridges.
- Gypsum—used in plasterboard for the construction of walls and ceilings.
- Halite—commonly known as table salt and used for food preservation.
- Graphite—lead in pencils and is common in lubricants and greases due to its lubricating qualities.
- Quartz—very pure versions used to make glass.
- Hematite (iron ore)—steel, cutlery, cooking pans, bridges, building frames.
Minerals in rocks may appear as grains or crystals, but many are too small to see. Most crystals in rocks do not look like big crystals with flat external faces but they can be ‘sparkly’ where light reflects off a face.
A gemstone is a mineral that may be rare, resilient (tough) and beautiful, particularly when cut or polished. While there are over 4000 known minerals, only 100 have the hardness and stability to be used as gemstones, and of those, only 20 are commonly used in jewellery, including diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies.