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Year 3

Physical properties of rocks: hardness

I can compare and group different rocks by investigating their hardness.

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New
New
Year 3

Physical properties of rocks: hardness

I can compare and group different rocks by investigating their hardness.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The physical properties of a material are its features that can be observed or measured.
  2. Hardness is a physical property of rocks.
  3. Rocks can be compared and grouped on the basis of their hardness.

Keywords

  • Rock - Rock is a solid material that occurs naturally in Earth.

  • Physical properties - Physical properties are the features which can be observed from the way an object looks or feels or can be measured.

  • Hardness - Hardness is the quality of being difficult to bend, cut, or break.

  • Compare - To compare is to examine or look for the difference between two or more things.

  • Group - To group is when a number of people or things are put together.

Common misconception

Pupils may believe that all rocks are hard. Also that if a rock is heavy it is therefore hard.

Share a wide range of rocks the children can handle to explore the property of hardness so they realise some rocks are much softer than others.


To help you plan your year 3 science lesson on: Physical properties of rocks: hardness, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Throughout this unit ensure you have a range of physical rocks to use instead of images as the children need to be able to handle real rocks to compare similarities and differences.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

See additional guidance.

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Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - equipment
  • Exploration of objects
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the objects to the material it is often made from.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer:roof ,rock
tick

rock

Correct Answer:road,tarmac
tick

tarmac

Correct Answer:window ,glass
tick

glass

Correct Answer:chair,wood
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wood

Q2.
Which of these describe a physical property of a material?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: flexible
Correct answer: brown
expensive
rare
Correct answer: rough
Q3.
If you wanted to observe a rock more closely which of these pieces of equipment could you use?
An image in a quiz
a ruler
a tape measure
Correct answer: a hand lens
a weighing scale
Correct answer: a microscope
Q4.
Which of these statements describes a rock?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: Rock is a natural material.
Rock is a human-made material.
Correct answer: Rock comes from Earth's crust.
Q5.
When we compare rocks, we observe and differences to be able to group them together.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: similarities
Q6.
We can work like a scientist to carry out an to find answers to questions.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: investigation, experiment

6 Questions

Q1.
The physical properties of rock are features that can be observed or ...
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: measured
Q2.
Which of these are physical properties of rocks you might observe or measure?
An image in a quiz
How much it cost.
Correct answer: How hard it is.
Correct answer: How much it crumbles.
Correct answer: How much it weighs.
Q3.
__________ rocks are hard. Fill in the gap.
An image in a quiz
All
A few
Correct answer: Most
Q4.
Which of the rocks named below can be grouped as hard?
Correct answer: Granite
Sandstone
Correct answer: Marble
Chalk
Q5.
Which of these investigations would show if a rock was hard or not?
An image in a quiz
Dropping the rock into water.
Weighing how heavy the rock is.
Correct answer: Scratching the rock's surface with a nail.
Q6.
Match the object to the most suitable rock.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer:roof,slate
tick

slate

Correct Answer:ornament,soapstone
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soapstone

Correct Answer:kitchen worktop ,granite
tick

granite

Q3 michal812/shutterstock Q5 michal812/shutterstock

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