Craig Bostwick
October 5, 2007
Lesson Plan
The content area I will be covering for my lesson plan will be rocks and minerals.
More specifically, I will go over how to identify specific samples based on their physical characteristics. Also, I will cover the three different types of rocks and how they are formed.
The specific topic of my lesson will be rocks and minerals. Skills I will teach include identification techniques and logical reasoning in identifying the different types of rocks and minerals. The ideas I will try to convey will be how rocks and minerals are formed in nature and how rocks differ from one another.
I would like my students to come away from this lesson having a greater understanding and appreciation for the world around them. One of the main skills I would like my students to achieve is to be better observers. Also, my students will be able to better identify things around them given the right materials. The children will also be able to explain the differences between the three different types of rocks. They will know the difference between rocks and minerals, and will be able to identify if a sample is a rock or a mineral.
In terms of technology and materials, a website would be a big help. I would be able to introduce the different types of rocks and show pictures of them. A video showing how rocks are formed would also be helpful. For other materials, I will use a number of rock and mineral samples as well as guides on rocks and minerals to help the

students identify the samples. Each student or pair of two students will need their own guide, and the rock samples can be shared.
The website will be used as my introduction to my lesson. I can start with a short video of a volcano to get the children’s attention and then go on to explain how rocks are formed from that. After that, I will continue with the website to show other examples of rock and mineral formation. The main activity of my lesson will be a hands-on activity with rock and mineral samples. I will hand out the samples along with guides, and the children will use different observations and tests to determine what type of rock or mineral they are studying. The guides go point by point, detailing one observation or test at a time. Based on the results, the guide directs the student to the next observation or test. This process continues until the field has been narrowed down to only one possibility. This can logically be considered the rock sample that the student has. Once a student has an answer, he or she can switch samples with another student who has also finished. This process will continue until every student or pair of students has identified each rock and mineral. Once this is done, we will go over, as a class, what the right answers are. I will go through each test with the children to ensure they know why each answer is correct, not only that it is the right answer.
This lesson could have many different follow-ups. A logical homework assignment would be to tell the students to go home and find a few rocks and/or minerals around their yard or somewhere close. Each child would be given a copy of the rock and mineral guide, and their assignment would be to correctly identify each rock and mineral sample that they find. The next day, the children would bring their samples to class so answers could be reviewed for accuracy.

Technology Standards:
2.3 Explore practices for evaluating websites.
2.4 Develop understanding of how the computer is a tool for learning.
3.3 Explore the use of content-specific tools to enhance understanding of curriculum content.
Assessment:
I want my students to have a simple understanding of the general properties of rocks and minerals. They should be able to describe the differences between rocks and minerals, and should also be able to differentiate between the three types of rocks. This will lead them to be able to identify different types of rocks.
I want my students to be able to achieve an application level of expertise. To do this, they will have to be able to learn characteristics of rocks and minerals, be able to identify these characteristics in given samples, and then connect it all together to conclude what type of rock or mineral they are observing.
What type of rock comes from a volcano? a.
Igneous b.
Metamorphic c.
Sedimentary d.
None of the above

Limestone and sandstone are examples of this: a.
Igneous rocks b.
Metamorphic rocks c.
Sedimentary rocks d.
Minerals
These are formed when a rock goes through a chemical change: a.
Igneous rocks b.
Metamorphic rocks c.
Sedimentary rocks d.
Minerals
These are made by a single material found in nature: a.
Igneous rocks b.
Metamorphic rocks c.
Sedimentary rocks d.
Minerals
Which of these can be found in a Sedimentary rock? a.
clay b.
sand c.
plant and animal matter d.
all of the above

answer key:
1. A
2. C
3. B
4. D
5. D