Year 3 Rocks

Children explore how fossils are formed in sedimentary rock. They learn that some ancient organisms died, were covered soon after death, formed fossils and were then uncovered. Children create their own process description with diagrams by cutting and pasting, or draw their own diagrams and write their own descriptions.

Children use a hand lens to look at a selection of rocks. They make observational drawings and describe them with the help of a word bank. Children try to identify the name of each rock and whether it contains grains, crystals, or fossils.

Children carry out an investigation to place a selection of 8 rocks in order of hardness. They predict and then test whether a rock can scratch each of the other rocks. They use their simple results table to create a frequency table and bar chart, and finally attempt to place the rocks in order of hardness.

Children investigate the properties of rocks. They predict and then observe whether 8 different rocks can be scratched with a nail, are porous, or can float in water. They use their results to create and label a 1-set Venn diagram.

Children research and discuss some different types of living things whose remains have become fossils inside sedimentary rock. They learn that fossils are rare and often incomplete. They look at 4 images of fossils, label what they can see, and make a drawing of what the organisms might have looked like when it was alive.

Using hand lenses, children explore two different soil samples. They identify differences and similarities, looking for sand, plant parts, water and minibeasts. They create an observational drawing and write a description of each sample.

Children examine a soil sample. They mix it with water inside a bottle, then allow it to settle. They draw and label its initial appearance, and then its appearance after several days. They discuss how it changes over time.

Children learn that rocks can be placed into three categories - sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous. They examine pictures of 8 familiar rocks - chalk, diamond, sandstone, slate, granite, flint, marble and limestone - and match them to their descriptions and physical properties. They suggest potential uses for each of these rocks.