The Amazing Mundo is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. In this interactive comic strip (also available as a printable PDF), kids are challenged to determine the composition of everyday objects.

CK-12 users should treat this FlexBook as an online textbook for Earth Science courses. This FlexBook underwent a thorough review conducted by practicing teachers, domain experts, copyeditors, and technical editors. It can be used in its current form, "flexed" (customized), and/or printed by the user. CK-12 supports feedback on all of its FlexBooks so that they can be continually improved and updated, while remaining aligned with state standards and curriculum guidelines.

This digital textbook was reviewed for its alignment with California content standards.

In this activity, students will design a process that removes the most iron from the cereal. This activity is meant for the students to experiment with different materials using what they know about iron, magnets, and forces to design the best process for removing the iron from the cereal.

This online glossary of 25 fundamental Earth science terms is part of the Creating the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth Web site. Along with easy-to-understand definitions, it includes photographs for the terms on five Web pages.

The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to the basic elements of our Earth's crust: rocks, soils and minerals. They learn how we categorize rocks, soils and minerals and how they are literally the foundation for our civilization. Students also explore how engineers use rocks, soils and minerals to create the buildings, roads, vehicles, electronics, chemicals, and other objects we use to enhance our lives.

This lesson teaches the students about the different layers of the Earth and how they work together. Students will be able to: Name and label the four layers of the Earth; Identify the main minerals that make up each layer; Explain how scientists formulated the idea that the Earth is comprised of four layers.

The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate the importance of rocks, soils and minerals in engineering and how using the right material for the right job is important. The students build three different sand castles and test them for strength and resistance to weathering. Then, they discuss how the buildings are different and what engineers need to think about when using rocks, soils and minerals for construction.

Managing eutrophication is a key element in maintaining the earth's biodiversity. Eutrophication is a process mostly associated with human activity whereby ecosystems accumulate minerals. This unit explains how this process occurs, what its effects on different types of habitat are, and how it might be managed.

This online activity is part of the museum's Online Field Journal Web site, where young children can explore the wonders of nature with the help of an adult. The challenge here is to take a closer look at three rocks: Gowganda Tillite, Loraine Quartzite, and Gowganda Glacial Conglomerate. On the opening page, there are side-by-side photos of the three rocks; students are asked to describe each rock. Clicking a rock's photo takes students to a magnified view of the rock that also asks students two additional questions. When students click on the magnified rock photo, they get a fun fact. The site also includes links to a Tips for Adult Helpers page and to a printable Rocks Field Journal page that has instructions for using it on a "rock hunt."

In this lesson, students will learn that minerals are a necessary part of our diet. They will learn that different minerals have different functions in the body. More specifically, they will discover that iron is necessary to carry oxygen around the body. In the associated activity, students will design a process that removes the most iron from the cereal.

This fun Web article is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. Here, they explore the geological and cultural significance of jade. The article begins by introducing kids to Museum scientist George Harlow and his jade scrapbook. Jade Around the World has annotated snapshots of diverse objects made out of jade, including rice bowls and teapots from ancient China, Maori war clubs, Persian spoons, and ear spools worn by the ancient Maya. What Makes Jade Special explains the two rocks (nephrite and jadeite) that share this name and examines their colors and patterns, translucency, durability, and what it takes to grind jade into different shapes. How Jade Forms looks at how jadeite is like a time capsule, holding important clues to the Earth's big events, and how it is analyzed in the lab. Hunting for Jade travels to Guatemala and Myanmar (Burma) to examine the mystery of Mesoamerican jade and a huge mine in Southeast Asia. Jade Today has snapshots showing how the stone is valued and used worldwide.

This geology Web site for kids, part of the museum's Kids in Our Halls program, was created by high school interns at the Museum. It includes: Kids Interview Kids, in which kids visiting the Hall of Planet Earth are asked geology questions and scientists' answers are given alongside the kids' article that recounts how Dr. Richard Ash survived snake encounters during an expedition to collect meteorites an online challenge in which kids see which standard kitchen items contain rocks and minerals, a 10-question interactive geology quiz a Q&A interview with a planetary geologist about her work.

This Web site, part of Kids in the Hall of Planet Earth, provides an interactive way to learn about the rocks and minerals found in everyday objects. Here, kids start with a clickable kitchen scene. There are more than 20 items to examine – everything from cereal and salt to porcelain plates and copper pots. For each item, students are taken to an information screen that explains the rock or mineral and how it has been used in the item.

This teacher's guide defines what a mineral deposit is and how a mineral deposit is identified and measured, how the mineral resources are extracted, and how the mining site is reclaimed; how minerals and mineral resources are processed; and how we use mineral resources in our every day lives. Included are 10 activity-based learning exercises that educate students on basic geologic concepts; the processes of finding, identifying, and extracting the resources from a mineral deposit; and the uses of minerals.

On this site teachers can access an extensive selection of curricular materials, fact sheets and activities for kids, a glossary, and links to other educational programs and sites. Other materials include maps and publications, an image gallery, and links to the park's newsletter.

A survey of the mechanical behavior of rocks in natural geologic situations. Topics: brief survey of field evidence of rock deformation, physics of plastic deformation in minerals, brittle fracture and sliding, and pressure-solution processes. Results of field petrologic and structural studies compared to data from experimental structural geology.

This lesson discusses the question 'What is a mineral?' in the context of the guessing game 'Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?'. It introduces a definition of the term, discusses the criteria used in the definition, and presents the common physical properties.

This site introduces students to mineral science and the scientific process -- observing things, forming hypotheses, and drawing conclusions. Students watch crystals grow, go on a scavenger hunt for minerals, and create a classroom exhibit of rocks and minerals (for Grades 3-8).

What minerals are in your toothpaste? A pencil? A telephone? This interactive resource adapted from the U.S. Geological Survey illustrates the variety of minerals used in everyday items found in kitchens, bathrooms, offices, and yards.