Lesson 14 of 84 ยท Earth's History
Lessonโญ 30 XP๐ Rock RealmMinerals and Their Properties
Earth's History.
๐ฏ Your mission
Learn the rule. Then catch nature using it.
โก The twist
Today's mountain was yesterday's ocean floor.
Mind = Blown
๐ชจ Every grain of sand on every beach used to be a mountain.
Make a hypothesis first
Guess: where will the water go first?
What You'll Learn
Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic solids with a crystalline structure and definite chemical composition. Minerals are identified by hardness, luster, color, streak, and cleavage.
Key Words
- igneous
- metamorphic
- sedimentary
Steps
Review the background information on Earth's History before starting.
Model plate tectonics using graham crackers on frosting. Push them together, pull them apart, and slide them past each other to show convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries.
Note any unexpected results and think about why they happened.
Share your findings with the class or a partner and discuss what you learned.
Check Your Understanding
Question 1
1 of 3What makes soil fertile?
Where you see this in real life
Today's weather, tomorrow's beach, next century's coastline โ all this.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Look at the sky for 5 minutes and try to predict tomorrow's weather.
For the dinner table
โWhat's the slowest change you can think of?โ
Next Smart Experiment
We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.
Share this experiment
Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.
Checkout complete lesson on Earth's History for 4th Grade
Get the full Earth's History track as a printable PDF โ all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.
