In this Grade 3 lesson from Science: A Closer Look, Chapter 5, students learn to identify minerals using properties such as color, streak, luster, and hardness. They also explore how rocks are classified as igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic based on how they form. Hands-on inquiry activities, like rubbing minerals on a white tile to observe streak, reinforce key earth science vocabulary and classification skills.
Section 1
Scientists Identify Minerals Using Physical Properties
Scientists examine color, streak, luster, and hardness to identify over 3,000 different minerals. Each mineral has unique properties that help distinguish it from others, even when they look similar.
Section 2
Rocks Form Through Different Natural Processes
Igneous rocks form when melted rock cools and hardens. Sedimentary rocks form when layers of sediment compress and cement together. Metamorphic rocks develop when existing rocks change through heat and pressure.
Section 3
Humans Transform Natural Resources Into Everyday Items
People use minerals like graphite for pencils, copper for wires, and aluminum for baseball bats. Rocks serve as building materials for roads, houses, and monuments. Some minerals become valuable gems.
Section 4
Textures Reveal How Rocks Developed
Coarse-textured rocks with large visible grains form slowly underground, while fine-textured rocks with tiny grains cool quickly on Earth's surface. These textures help scientists understand a rock's formation story.
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Section 1
Scientists Identify Minerals Using Physical Properties
Scientists examine color, streak, luster, and hardness to identify over 3,000 different minerals. Each mineral has unique properties that help distinguish it from others, even when they look similar.
Section 2
Rocks Form Through Different Natural Processes
Igneous rocks form when melted rock cools and hardens. Sedimentary rocks form when layers of sediment compress and cement together. Metamorphic rocks develop when existing rocks change through heat and pressure.
Section 3
Humans Transform Natural Resources Into Everyday Items
People use minerals like graphite for pencils, copper for wires, and aluminum for baseball bats. Rocks serve as building materials for roads, houses, and monuments. Some minerals become valuable gems.
Section 4
Textures Reveal How Rocks Developed
Coarse-textured rocks with large visible grains form slowly underground, while fine-textured rocks with tiny grains cool quickly on Earth's surface. These textures help scientists understand a rock's formation story.
Book overview
Jump across lessons in the current chapter without opening the full course modal.
Continue this chapter