Topic: Minerals and rocks of the earth's crust

Target group

7th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

General requirements

I. Geographical knowledge.

8 . Integrating knowledge of nature with socio‑economic and humanistic knowledge.

Specific requirements

XII. Your own region: sources of information about the region; dominant features of the natural environment, demographic structure and economy; tourist attractions; international cooperation. Pupil:

3) recognizes rocks found in its own region.

IX. The natural environment of Poland against the background of Europe: geographical position of Poland; influence of tectonic movements and glaciations on the sculpture of Europe and Poland; transitional climate of Poland; Baltic Sea; the main Polish rivers and their systems against the rivers of Europe and their systems; main types of soils in Poland; forests in Poland; natural heritage of Poland, mineral resources of Poland. Pupil:

15). indicates on the map the distribution of major Polish mineral resources and discusses their economic importance

General aim of education

The student will learn from what rocks the earth's crust is built

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• division of rocks due to their genesis and because of their cohesion;

• will tell examples of rocks occurring in your place of residence;

• examples of the use of rocks in various industries.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • lecture.

• activating

  • discussion;

  • brainstorming.

• exposing

  • exposition.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• computers with internet access, or tablets.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

• The lecturer explains that this is an introductory lesson to issues related to rocks and mineral resources in Poland / their own region..

• The teacher asks the question: What is rock? and asks students to write down as many responses as possible during brainstorming. Students have to complete the task for 5 minutes. Then, together with the teacher, they verify the given proposals.

Realization

• The leader resembles the division of rocks due to their genesis (igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks) and the division of rocks due to their cohesion (solid rocks, compact rocks, loose rocks).

• Students, working individually or in pairs, solve exercise 1 and carry out instruction 1 from the lesson, listing examples of rocks occurring naturally in their place of residence. Together with the teacher, they discuss the answers. The purpose of these exercises is to check the degree of mastery of the ability to distinguish rocks according to the above classification.

• The teacher displays a photo gallery from the command 2 showing examples of the use of selected rocks in various areas of life. Then he divides students into groups (maximum 4‑5 people in a group), recommending each of them to prepare a commentary on the material presented. The commentary should be prepared in accordance with the guidelines provided by the teacher, specifying, for example, the volume of the comment (number of words / sentences), its substantive content, etc..

• Each group successively presents the effect of their work. The other students individually assess whether the presented works meet the criteria set out in the guidelines, awarding 1 point for each criterion met.

• The class sums up the points awarded to each job. The teacher initiates a discussion, the purpose of which is to provide each group with feedback on its work, indicating its strengths and weaknesses. At the end of the discussion, pupils make conclusions on the reasons why some rocks have found application in the economy, and give some examples (recommendation 3 from the lesson in the textbook).

• The teacher asks the students whether they know what mineral resources are. Then he initiates a brainstorming session, during which students give examples of materials known to them. The teacher presents the division of mineral resources due to their use (energy, metal, chemical and rock).

Summary

• The teacher briefly presents the most important issues discussed in class. He answers the additional questions of the proteges and explains all their doubts. Students complete notes.

Homework

• Analyze the map in the e‑textbook and prepare a list of mineral resources that occur in your area of residence.

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Minerals and rocks of the earth's crust

The smallest natural, indivisible components of the Earth's crust have been called minerals. They were created as a result of natural geological processes. Each of them has characteristic physical and chemical properties. Most minerals also have a specific crystal structure. There are over 3 thousand known minerals. The most numerous in the lithosphere are: plagioclases, orthoclases, pyroxenes and amphiboles, quartz, magnetite, mica and calcite.

Natural clusters of one or many minerals, created as a result of specific geological processes (magmatism, metamorphism, sedimentation and others) form rocks, which are the basic components of the Earth's crust. Natural accumulations of crumbs of other rocks or debris of organic origin are also called rocks. Some of them were used in energy production or in other industries, such as construction, thanks to which they were named mineral resources.

In addition to rock raw materials, mineral resources also include energy, metal and chemical raw materials.

Rocks are formed as a result of various processes, as presented in the table below (division by reason of genesis).

Rocks that form the Earth's crust can also be categorized by their cohesion, i.e. the degree of connection between its mineral components. We distinguish three groups:

• hard rocks – their grains are strongly bonded (e.g. granite, sandstone, marble);

• soft rocks – formed from rock crumbs and minerals with an average diameter smaller than one tenth of a millimeter. They are poorly connected with each other. Because of that, they can be crushed in the hand or – if they are moist – knead like plasticine.

• loose rocks – their grains are not connected with each other (e.g. sand, gravel).