Welcome to the Elementary Member Resources page. All the resources on this page are available to Members of the site. Everyone can view the list and range of resources, but unless you are a member you will be unable to access them.
On this page, we have pulled together all the resources that are suitable for the elementary classroom (depending on grade/age levels).
Why become a member?
- Get access to a range of tested Earth science classroom activities and teacher guides,
- Get access to posters, rock charts, and more,
- Get access to video clips and full classroom video-based modules,
- Get discounts on all our educator Field Adventures (does not include Geocaching trips)
- Get the quarterly journal The Earth Science Teacher emailed directly to you,
- Get discounts on other GEOetc services.
Who can become a member?
- Teachers, educators, college students, homeschoolers, retirees…anyone who has a passion for Earth science!
To become a member, you can click on any of the resources below and follow the ‘Register’ links or join up here.
All the resources suitable for Elementary are below! Click to jump to...
Past copies of the GEOetc membership journal The Earth Science Teacher can be found at the bottom of the page (Jump down).
Activities
Granite Mineral Search
This is an introductory activity on minerals. It aims to show students that rocks are made of different minerals, which have properties that can be used to distinguish them. Have …
Rock Cycle Rock Types
Have your students complete a simple rock cycle diagram by adding the major rock types. This straightforward activity could be used as an introduction to the Rock Cycle. It could …
Rock Cycle Processes
Have your students complete a simple rock cycle diagram by adding the processes that form the three major rock types – melting, weathering/erosion/deposition, or heat and/or pressure. This straightforward activity …
Mineral Charts
Have your students research the mineral properties of hardness, luster, cleavage/fracture etc. Then use a table of 12 common minerals and some descriptions to identify three unknown minerals. The object …
Mineral Color
Have your students work out how many minerals they can see in an image. They may be surprised at the answer! The object of the activity is to show how …
Gold Streak
Students do some online research to discover the color of the streak of minerals commonly mistaken for gold. They then use their new knowledge to identify a sample showing a …
How hard is it?
Have students work out the relative hardness of common items found in your classroom (you can select five items such as pencil lead, chalk, copper coin, knife, wood etc). Then …
Sedimentary Shuffle
Have students classify sedimentary rocks into clastic, chemical, or organic based on their mode of formation. Have them discuss in a group why each one needs to go into the …
Sock Faults
Let’s use socks with patterns to model fault types and calculate displacement. Here are two images of different types of faults (normal and reverse/thrust) faults being modeled using the patterns …
What soil type?
A simple classification of soil is based on the type of rock materials they contain – from very sand-rich soil through to very clay-rich soil. This is a simple activity …
Plate Tectonics Battleships
Have your students play the classic ‘battleship’ game , but using earthquake and volcano locations on Earth. At the end of the game, can they see patterns? Do the patterns …
What is doing it – Physical Weathering
Can your students work out what the major physical weathering force is acting in a series of photos? What evidence can they cite for their conclusions? Downloadable activity (Download) Suggested …
Freeze and thaw – physical weathering demo
This is a demonstration (or group activity) to show students how repeated freeze and thaw of a rock sample can start to break it down. This is an example of …
Soil in a jar
Have your students collect and examine the components of soil in a jar. Students will need to have a jar for each sample, and can use this to see the …
How old was the tree?
Have your students use a real image of a tree to work out its age by counting tree rings. This can be a simple activity for them to do alone, …
What’s happening on Sebago Beach?
Have your students watch a 20-second video (let them watch it as many times as they like), then describe what they see happening to the sediments (sand and gravel) on …
Toilet Paper Timelines
Have your students work to build timelines using toilet paper to represent recent events. They then can calculate how many rolls of toilet paper they will need to represent some …
Name the Plates
Have your students correctly label the major tectonic plates and some of the minor plates on a simple world map. They may need a labeled world map to know the …
Earth’s Plate Tectonic Features
Have your students use this Google Map that shows different features on Earth that are related to Plate Tectonics – mid-ocean ridges, deep trenches, and volcanoes related to subduction. The …
Using Gravestones
Graveyards and cemeteries are wonderful places for students to learn about geoscience, mathematics, history, language and so much more. As a way to integrate all these topics into one field …
Discussion Starters
Short videos that can help you start discussions with your students.
What are these washed up rocks? (Pumice)
These rocks are found in the high tide zone of beaches on the coast of Australia. They are very light in color and weight. How do you think they formed? …
What is making the rocks look like this? (Weathering)
Sandstone layers on the coast are weathering to form this strange pattern of holes. What do you think is happening to cause this type of weathering? What evidence would you …
What is cutting through those rocks? (Igneous intrusion)
Layers of almost horizontal sedimentary layers of sandstone are cut by a vertical structure. What could that be? What evidence can you see to back up your thoughts? What evidence …
How did that rock get here? (Tsunami)
Sitting somewhat alone on a rock platform well away from any cliffs is this huge block of rock – the size of a small car! How could it have been …
Phenomenon Video Snaps
These are short explainer videos that highlight some features or geological concepts.
Paper Models
Tyrannosaurus Rex Model
Using scissors and glue, construct this complex model with your students. This one takes quite a bit of skill! Tyrannosaurus …
Nautiloid Model
Using scissors and glue, construct this simple model. Straight nautiloids were a group of advanced animals that lived in the …
Trilobite Model
Using scissors and glue, construct this simple model with your students. Trilobites are an extinct marine animal that evolved around …
Stratovolcano Model
Using scissors and glue, construct this complex model with your students. A stratovolcano (sometimes called a composite volcano) is made …
Shield Volcano Model
Using scissors and glue, construct this simple model with your students. A shield volcano forms when the majority of the …
Cinder Cone Model
Using scissors and glue, construct this simple model of a cinder cone with your students. A cinder cone is a …
Posters
Rock Posters
Print your own rock posters – downloadable PDF file. 4 full-color pages. These are 2 pages wide (17 inches/43 cm) and 2 pages high (22.7 inches/58 cm).
Sedimentary
Metamorphic
Igneous
Videos
Mathematics on an Active Volcano
Want to make your teaching and learning of mathematics more exciting? What could be better than learning about the use …
Engineering on an Active Volcano
Want to make your teaching and learning of engineering exciting? What could be better than learning about the use of …
Technology on an Active Volcano
Want to make your teaching and learning of technology exciting? What could be better than learning about the use of …
Science on an Active Volcano
Want to make your Science teaching and learning exciting? What could be better than learning about the science of an …
Watcha Thinkin
Watcha Thinkin is a way to start discussions in your classroom about an Earth Science topic (aligned to the NGSS Storyline process).
Watcha Thinkin – Volcanoes
Watcha Thinkin is a way to start discussions in your classroom about an Earth Science topic (aligned to the NGSS Storyline process). This Watcha Thinkin is for Volcanoes. Suggested flow Watch video with the prompt ‘What do you notice?’ Students …
Writing Prompts
Earth science can be used for so many things – including prompts for creative writing. Here are some Earth science-related images. The teacher’s notes tell you what the images show – but leave it to your student’s imagination to write a story around what they see! You can download a writing worksheet with the image, or a copy of the image to display to your students in class or in Google classroom.
My story – Outrun the lava
Teacher Notes In 1974 lava from the Mauna Ulu eruption on the volcano Kilauea in Hawaii, USA cut a road …
My story – Lava tube
Teacher Notes Nāhuku (once called Thurston Lava Tube) was formed in an eruption 500 years ago on the volcano called …
My story – Coconut Sprout
Teacher Notes Someone planted this coconut in a newly formed black sand beach that formed when lava poured into the …
My story – Volcanic crater
Teacher Notes This is Kerid crater – a volcano explosive crater that formed in Iceland around 6,500 years ago. It …
My story – Horses to the falls
Skogafoss is one of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland. It is fed by a melting icecap (glacier) a few …
My story – Falling column
Teachers Notes Two hopeful geologists act like they are holding up a basaltic column on the south coast of Iceland. …
My story – Boy strikes it rich
Teachers Notes While collecting minerals on Mount Apatite in Minot, Maine , USA, Oliver found what he thought was an …
My story – In the vent
Teachers Notes These students are sitting in the 1969 eruptive vent of Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, …
My story – Devils Coach House
Teachers Notes This is the Devils Coach House – a very large limestone cave at Jenolan, New South Wales, Australia. …
My story – Diamond Beach
Teachers Notes This is a photo taken on Diamond Beach in Iceland. A nearby glacier is calving off icebergs into …
The Earth Science Teacher
The Earth Science Teacher is the member journal of GEOetc. It comes out a few times a year and contains background information, teaching resources, links to member resources, and more.
TESTeacher 4.4 – Sedimentary Rocks
In this Edition In this issue, we look at sedimentary rocks and how they are classified into clastic, chemical and …
TESTeacher 4.3 – Erosion
In this Edition In this issue, we look at Erosion including that caused by gravity, water, wind and ice. Download …
TESTeacher 4.2 – Chemical Weathering
In this Edition In this issue, we look at Chemical Weathering including hydration, hydrolysis etc Download this issue …
TESTeacher 4.1 – Physical Weathering
In this Edition In this issue, we look at Physical Weathering – water, wind, ice, salt, plants etc. Download this …
TESTeacher 3.4 – Igneous Intrusions
In this Edition In this issue, we look at Igneous Intrusions, how magma forms etc. Download this issue …
TESTeacher 3.3 – Rock Relationships
In this Edition In this issue, we look at Rock Relationships – and provide links to cross-section activities. Download this …
TESTeacher 3.2 – EarthCaching
In this Edition In this issue, we look at EarthCaching and provide links to download the full Educators Guide to …
TESTeacher 3.1 – Metamorphic Rocks
In this Edition In this issue, we examine metamorphic rocks – minerals, pressure, metamorphic grade, and more. There are links …
TESTeacher 2.4 – Glaciers
In this Edition In this issue, we discuss the processes of the formation of glaciers and then examine the evidence …
TESTeacher 2.3 – Iceland volcanoes
In this Edition In this issue, we discuss the processes (divergent plate boundaries and a hot spot) and how they …
TESTeacher 2.2 – Divergent Plate Boundaries
In this Edition In this issue, we divergent plate boundaries – mid ocean ridges, Iceland, East African Rift Zone. There …
TESTeacher 2.1 Fossils
In this Edition In this issue, we examine fossils – how they form, types of preservation and how they are …
TESTeacher 1.4 Deep Time
In this Edition In this issue, we examine the concept of deep time and how to introduce it to your …
TESTeacher 1.3 Mineral Identification
In this Edition What are the physical properties you can use in your classroom to identify minerals? Learn about the …
TESTeacher 1.2 Volcanoes
In this Edition Volcanoes – and an approach to teaching them in your classroom from magma chemistry to eruption style …
TESTeacher 1.1 Earthquakes
In this Edition Earthquakes and how to teach them in your classroom Member Speaks – Kate Lefever tells how she …