Getting Started:
- The first step in this activity is to learn more about different types of rocks and how they are formed.
- Click here to access an online textbook chapter about rocks on Discovery Education. Log in with your surrey schools username and password. Be sure so read through all the sections, watch the videos and try the activities.
- Watch the video below about how to classify rocks.
Now gather your materials:
Search your neighbourhood to find a variety of different types of rocks. Try to find rocks in natural rather than man-made areas. Make a note of the location where you found each rock (in a river, in the soil, in gravel, etc).
If you have one, use a magnifying glass to examine you rocks more closely.
Search your neighbourhood to find a variety of different types of rocks. Try to find rocks in natural rather than man-made areas. Make a note of the location where you found each rock (in a river, in the soil, in gravel, etc).
If you have one, use a magnifying glass to examine you rocks more closely.
Main Activity and Guiding Questions
- Click here to read about the different properties of minerals.
- Color
- Streak
- Hardness
- Cleavage or Fracture
- Crystalline Structure
- Diaphaneity or Amount of Transparency
- Tenacity
- Magnetism
- Luster
- Odor
- Taste
- Specific Gravity
- Can you use some of these properties to describe the rocks that you collected?
- Click here to look at examples of common rocks in BC using Know BC (click here for log-on information)
- Can you identify some of the rocks that you found?
- What is the difference between igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks?
- What is the difference between a rock and a mineral?
- What does the rock cycle tell us about how rocks are formed?
- Why would it be helpful to make note of where a rock is found?
- What might be the difference between a rock found in a natural area versus a man-made area (for example the difference between rocks found in a forest or a garden)?
Share Your Learning
- Prepare a short slideshow with a picture of each of your rocks.
- Describe where each rock was found
- Describe a few properties of each rock.
- Make a guess about the identity of each rock.