Physical properties of rocks: hardness

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

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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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Share activities with pupils

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Lesson details

Key learning points

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

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.

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.

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.

Teacher tip

Equipment

See additional guidance.

Content guidance

Risk assessment required - equipment
Exploration of objects

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).