Grade Levels: K-3

These classroom activities are designed to complement the Rocks and Minerals topic on BrainPOP Jr.

Rocking Out
Go on a rock hunt with your whole class. You can take a walk around the school grounds or go to a park together. Have each student bring back a rock to share with the whole class. Discuss the properties of the rocks and compare their size and shape. Have small groups take turns sorting the rocks by different properties, like size, texture, color, luster, and hardness. Let the students decide how best to display their collection. Students can do research at the library or online to find out what minerals might be in their rocks.

Rocks Around the Clock

After the class has viewed the movie and had some discussion about different things made of rocks and minerals, send your class out into the school building to find objects that are made of minerals or rocks. Let students research how minerals are used in your school, so they can learn that many door and cupboard hinges are made with steel, lights with glass, and mirrors with quartz. You might assign small groups to visit different rooms in the school such as the bathroom, the cafeteria kitchen, the gym, the music room, and the art room. When they return, ask the groups to share the things they found.

Rock or Not

Bring a collection of items from nature into the classroom, including a variety of rocks and minerals like sand; salt; pebbles; crystals; animal byproducts such as feathers, shells, fur, or bones; and plant matter such as tree bark, pine cones, leaves, flowers, and seeds. Put the collections into small bags and ask groups of children to sort them into groups by animal, plant, or mineral/rock. Then ask each group to explain to the class how they sorted their items.