Geology Rocks! Unit (& FREE Printable Packet) - Rock Theme

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You guys!  I am SO excited to share this Geology Rocks! unit with you!! It is perfect for a rock theme!  And, I am including the printable packet I made for us {FREE} for you!!



If you love rocks, you will love this unit...and if your kid loves rocks, you will probably love these resources even more!!  It includes everything you need to teach a fantastic rock unit (or rock theme)!!

I put the unit together for a Kindergarten - 2nd grade homeschool class I taught this semester.  The printable packet targets this age range, but can easily be adapted for older or younger kids.  My 3rd grader loved doing it at home, and my preschooler joined us for all the activities!


The lessons here on the blog target a preschool and kindergarten aged audience.  Again, you can adapt it to whatever your needs are!  The six lessons include more than a dozen hands-on activities, experiments, and demonstrations!  The wonderful thing about hands-on experiments and activities is that children will learn from it whatever is appropriate for their age.  You can do the same experiment (and I often have!) with preschoolers and high school students and they will learn completely different things.  But, I digress!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these resources and have a wonderful time learning about rocks with your kiddos!

HERE is the packet with Geology Rocks! lesson plans and a printable notebook.  More on this in a moment!

Here are links to the six lessons.  These are fun, hands-on, and full of the kind of information curious minds love!  There are enough ideas and information to help anyone with any amount (or non-amount!) of science background teach an awesome, science-filled rock unit.


Lesson 1: Introduction & Minerals

Lesson 2:  Sedimentary Rocks

Lesson 3: Igneous Rocks

Lesson 4: Metamorphic Rocks

Lesson 5: Rocks & Soil

Lesson 6: Rock Cycle & Summary


And, if you'd like to print everything, you will love this printable Geology Rocks unit!

The first half is a set of lesson plans targeting the K-2nd age and the second half includes all the printables for a student notebook!

Note that there are very minor differences in the lessons on the blog posts and the printable lessons.  These are 1- because of differences in formatting blog posts and pdfs and 2- because the blog posts are all lessons that are appropriate for preschoolers while some of the activities in the packet are more appropriate for slightly older kids.

 The packet can be used to create a Rocks Notebook or a Rocks Lapbook or just for a resource as you learn!  It is perfect if you are a homeschooler who likes notebooking or a classroom teacher who needs handouts...or anyone in between!
In case you missed the links above, click HERE to get the {FREE} Geology Rocks! unit with lesson plans and printable student notebook!




I hope you love this unit and are able to use it as part of a rock theme in your classroom or homeschool!  I would LOVE to hear from you if you use it too--this took a TON of time to create and I am giving it away to anyone who is interested.  It always means a lot when someone takes the time to let me know how they use it or to share links to this post on social media.  Hugs!! and Thank You!!!




Happy Educating, Carla




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Comments

our list said…

Thank you very much! I plan to use this in Co-op! its perfect <3
October 19, 2016 at 1:33 PM
Anonymous said…
Just wanted to say thank you for posting.. Planning to use this in an inner-city rec center program and I know the kids will have a blast.
February 26, 2018 at 11:49 AM
Carla at Preschool Powol Packets said…
Forestpheebs, thank you so much for letting me know! I'm so excited you can use it!!
February 26, 2018 at 12:30 PM
Unknown said…
Thank you so much for sharing! We just did lesson one with a geode we bought from our local museum. So much fun!!
October 23, 2018 at 6:21 PM
Carla at Preschool Powol Packets said…
Ashley, you're welcome!! I'm so glad you can use it!!
October 23, 2018 at 7:32 PM
Asha said…
Hi- I'm going through this unit with my kids, while reading some books about the rock cycle at the same time. I noticed some information in your unit study that didn't match up with the information in the book. In the igneous rock section you say that basalt cools and hardens quickly, but obsidian cools slowly, allowing it to form crystals like on snowflake obsidian. According to "My Little Book of Rocks, Gems, and Minerals" both types of rock cool quickly. And in fact obsidian cools so quickly its minerals don't have time to form into crystals, which is why it looks so smooth and shiny. (except in the case of snowflake obsidian, where it cools just slow enough to allow quartz to form). This is unlike igneous rocks like granite, which form from underground magma, rather than cooled lava, and so harden much slower. This allows the minerals to crystallize more definitely. I felt your info was slightly misleading and just thought you or others working through this might like to know.
November 8, 2018 at 6:08 PM
Carla at Preschool Powol Packets said…
Hi Asha!
Thanks for taking the time to comment! You're right...the description I had about obsidian was confusing--I have updated the lesson to be more clear! I certainly never meant to be misleading!

For anyone else interested, here is some more information:
1- Obsidian and basalt usually both form outside the Earth, quickly (in geologic terms), from cooling lava.
2- Obsidian can occasionally form inside the Earth from cooling magma (especially along the edges of dikes or sills), as long as it cools quickly (again, in geologic terms) enough that it has a glassy texture. In some cases, it takes long enough that really gorgeous quartz crystals can form on it--we call this snowflake obsidian.
3- Granite forms inside the Earth as magma cools. This happens so slowly that the minerals inside the magma group together and crystallize...this is why you can see individual minerals like mica and feldspar.
4- Granite and obsidian are actually composed of very similar minerals, but the two different cooling processes give them a completely different appearance!

I hope this helps clear things up! And, like I mentioned earlier, the pdf contains more clear information now too!

Thanks again!
Carla
November 9, 2018 at 1:01 PM
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