Introduction to Rocks - Teacher Explanation

Welcome to Lesson 3.4, 'An Introduction to Rocks', part of the Year 3 Unit on Rocks. This lesson is designed to help pupils meet the national curriculum requirements of comparing and grouping different kinds of rocks based on their appearance and simple physical properties. A key health and safety note for this lesson is to ensure that any rock samples provided are safe to handle; they should be checked for sharp edges, and children must wash their hands after handling them. The lesson offers cross-curricular opportunities, including creating a poster or a PowerPoint presentation to showcase the different types of rocks, their appearances, and properties, which also incorporates information technology skills.

The main activity of the lesson involves examining the characteristics of the three main types of rocks: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. Educators have the option to introduce these categories to the pupils or let them explore the samples to identify common features. For this, you will need rock sample sets, hand lenses, and magnifying glasses. The lesson will cover how sedimentary rocks often contain visible grains or pebbles, metamorphic rocks may have shiny crystals and stripes, and igneous rocks might have holes or a random arrangement of minerals. The pupils will use rock cards and other resources to classify unknown rock samples into these three categories, which is a challenging but rewarding task that will enhance their understanding of rocks and their properties.