Lesson 3 Rocks and Soils: Attributes Color

Hello, young scientists!

Have you ever talked about the characteristics of someone in a book before? Well, geologists who study rocks and minerals have to know their characteristics to help identify them. The only difference is that they use the word “attributes” instead of characteristics. So we are going to take the next few days to learn about the 4 main attributes of rocks and minerals!

Today, we will focus on the first attribute: color.

Check out the poster below. What do you notice about the different rocks and minerals? Get your science journal ready for today’s activity!

 

visual Visual

 

Colors: fluorite, granite, topaz, calcite, basalt, tiger eye, diamond, turquoise, sandstone

image-6.pngAssignment

Materials needed:

  • your science journal
  • a pencil
  • colored pencils
  • rocks you collect from your yard, the playground, a creek, etc. (try to get somewhere between 8-10; keep these for the next few days)

 

Science Journal Entry:

  1. Write a response to this question: What do you notice about the different rocks/minerals on the digital poster?
  2. Look at the rocks you collected. Put them into groups based on their color and illustrate that in your science journal. Was it easy or difficult to group them by color? Why do you think that?

 

 

 

 

[CC BY 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION