Introductory Lesson on Rock Types

Subject/topic: Science/Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change

Grade/class: 5th
Time/period: 3rd Period
Lesson date: 12/01/17

SOL: 5.7 The student will investigate and understand how Earth’s surface is constantly
changing. Key concepts include
a) identification of rock types;
b) the rock cycle and how transformations between rocks occur;
c) Earth history and fossil evidence;
d) the basic structure of Earth’s interior;
e) changes in Earth’s crust due to plate tectonics;
f) weathering, erosion, and deposition; and
g) human impact.

Content outline: The key concept of this lesson is the identification of rock types. Vocabulary
words include: Metamorphic, Igneous, Sedimentary, Size, Observation, and Texture.

Rationale: It is important for the students to know the different types of rocks and study rocks in
general because rocks contain clues about what the Earth was like in the past. We can assemble a
historical record of a planet and trace events that occurred long before humans roamed our
planet.

Objective(s) of the lesson: The student will be able to independently recall (at least) one correct
fact about each type of rock (metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary) with 80 percent accuracy
in one trial.

Lesson Opening: I will ask the students if they have ever gone rock climbing, and have them
discuss in small groups the coolest rock they have ever seen. There will be three tables of rocks
in the classroom representing the three different types of rocks. Students will spend time at each
table looking at the and touching the rocks and filling in an observation chart that has different
columns for each rock. They will include: color, texture, size and any other observations they can
make about the rock. They will rotate table to table. This should take approximately 15 minutes.

Connection: The students will connect to prior knowledge by recalling their own experiences
with rocks, and their experience making observations.
Instructional Strategies/Processes: We will use the students observation charts to have a
discussion on what the class noticed, we will put the observations on a big list for the whole class
to see (10 minutes). Then, I will give the names of the rock types and any additional facts for the
students to add on the top of their columns(7 minutes). The students will write the definitions in
their word bank in the back of their science journals(5 minutes). We will then watch a youtube
video called the “3 Types of Rock Song” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE3jR_RhxO4)
and the students can get up and dance/stretch (7 minutes). There are many learning types used in
this lesson: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. The students will be in randomly assigned groups.

Products: The students will complete an observation chart and fill in words in the word bank in
their science journal.

Assessment:The student will complete an exit slip at the end of the lesson where they have to
write at least one thing they learned about each type of rock. They will not be able to look at
their notes.

Closure: We will watch a Bill Nye video that explains all of the types of rocks, and we will go
over any questions that the student may have. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgJmCllDk_c

Homework: On their own the students will find one rock in their backyard. Using the
observation table they will decide which type of rock they have found.