Description
The rock cycle is an example of how Earth’s materials are continually recycled. Students will learn about rocks and minerals and will love these engaging activities on the rock cycle and Earth’s materials. This is part of the science standard Earth’s Materials and Systems. Students will learn about the rock cycle through hands-on labs and close reading activities.
This middle school science resource includes:
- nonfiction text passages on the rock cycle
- response pages with text-dependent questions
- hands-on labs
- follow-up pages
- interactive notebook folds and flaps
- The slide shows for metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary rocks
- QR code research
- a sorting activity
Teachers Love This Resource!❤️❤️❤️
Elizabeth ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
My students really enjoyed this resource. I liked using these as stations to get the kids to learn and talk. This resource has scientific reading passages with comprehension questions aligned with Middle School CCSS for Reading informational text.
This resource is aligned with the NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas: Earth Materials and Systems.
This resource is designed to meet the standard for NGSS Earths Systems:
NGSS MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
It is also aligned with:
Utah SEEd 7.2.1 Develop a model of the rock cycle to describe the relationship between energy flow and matter cycling that create igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Emphasize the process of melting, crystallization, weathering, deposition, sedimentation, and deformation, which act together to form minerals and rocks.
Students will learn through the slide show, reading, and labs that Earth’s materials are cycled throughout our Earth’s system. They will learn how each type of rock (metamorphic, sedimentary, and igneous) is formed. They will learn that all three types of rocks can be broken down and recycled in the rock cycle to make new rocks.
Science Concepts Addressed Include:
- The Rock Cycle
- Sedimentary
- Igneous
- Intrusive
- Extrusive
- Metamorphic rocks
- Melting
- Crystallization
- Cooling
- Weathering
- Sediments
- Heat and pressure
- Recycling of matter
- Deposition
- Sedimentation
- Cementation
Science and Engineering Practices Students Will Use Include:
- Asking Questions
- Developing and Using Models
- Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
- Constructing explanations
- Engaging in argument from evidence
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
NGSS Crosscutting Concepts addressed include:
- Patterns
- Cause and Effect
- Scale, Proportion, and Quantify
- System and System Models
- Structure and Function
- Stability and Change
You can read more about this unit on my blog post here!
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