This activity is all about sorting rocks according to their properties, which depend upon how they were formed. Pupils use the characteristic properties of a set of rocks to sort them into sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rock groups. This works reasonably well for most rocks, but there are exceptions which are explained in the activity.
Other ELIs about rocks can be found in the Rocks section of Earth Materials.
Our new ELI today is the third in a series of 'Teaching geology to students with visual impairment (VI) - modifying geological materials for students who cannot see'.
Using the three ELI activities in this series, pupils with visual impairments can actively participate in learning geology. They can engage with real geological materials used so frequently when teaching the subject. They can also share in learning, using these models alongside visually acute students.
The other activities in the series are in the Cross Category topics lists.
Keeping our theme of limestone - - '‘I’m pure calcium carbonate’ – the calcium carbonate question; a discussion focussed on common misconceptions about calcium carbonate'.
New ELI today is 'Make a mini lime kiln and discover limelight; investigating the results of heating limestone.'
This ELI is a pupil activity to decompose limestone by heat and to discuss the uses of the resulting quicklime. It's a good activity for science, geography or environmental science classes.
Click on Engineering and Industrial Geology for related activities.