Kiddos like to identify rocks and minerals. (See What is the difference between a rock and Mineral?) Make your own identification kit. Start by looking at a commercial kit. Look at HST’s All About Rocks and Minerals and their Lesson Plan for ideas about how to structure your lesson. Be sure to borrow a rock and mineral guide book from the library.
I strongly recommend buying a set with the rocks and minerals identified. My classes run all manner of mineral tests on known specimens. Why? I’m not a geologist. I have zero background identifying unknown rocks and minerals. (Okay, I could probably identify quartz and mica.)
There are several identification tests: color, streak, cleavage, etc. Scroll this page for a mineral identification flow chart. I like to use density as a test, too. Here is how to measure rock density, which requires a graduated cylinder and scale. Another test is hardness; Rock Detectives use a penny, steel washer, and unglazed tile. Here are mineral tests: hardness, color, and streak. Another test is fluorescence with a UV flashlight.
Spend money on the rock and mineral sets rather than the tools.
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