Lesson 84 of 84 · Fossils
Lesson⭐ 30 XPMinerals and Their Properties (Part 3)
Minerals and Their Properties (Part 3).
🎯 Your mission
Learn the rule. Then catch nature using it.
⚡ The twist
Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.
Mind = Blown
🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.
Make a hypothesis first
Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.
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 Fossils 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
This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.
For the dinner table
“What's the most surprising thing you learned today?”
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 Fossils for 3rd Grade
Get the full Fossils track as a printable PDF — all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.