Rainbow rocks: Science primary resource

This primary resource offers an opportunity to introduce children to rock types and how they are formed. Discover how rocks are made up of different layers. Why are these foothills stripy? How long did it take for the stripes to form?

Pupils will learn about layers of rock, known as ‘strata’, and how erosion changes the colour of sediment in our National Geographic Kids’ Rocks primary resource sheet.

The teaching resource can be used in study group tasks for discussions about the processes involved in rock formations; as a printed handout for each pupil to review and annotate, or for display on the interactive whiteboard using the image included in the resource to open class discussion.

Activity: Ask children to highlight key parts of the rock forming process on their individual print-outs. Pupils could use the resource to create a timeline or diagram of the rock cycle. They could draw and colour striped slopes like this using coloured pencils or chalks.

N.B. The following information for mapping the resource documents to the school curriculum is specifically tailored to the English National Curriculum and Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. We are currently working to bring specifically tailored curriculum resource links for our other territories; including South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. If you have any queries about our upcoming curriculum resource links, please email: schools@ngkids.co.uk

This Science primary resource assists with teaching the following Lower Key Stage 2 Science (Year 3) objectives from the National Curriculum:

Pupils should be taught to:  

• compare and group together different kinds of rocks on the basis of their appearance and simple physical properties

• describe in simple terms how fossils are formed when things that have lived are trapped within rock 

• recognise that soils are made from rocks and organic matter

This Science primary resource assists with teaching the following Sciences Second level objectives from the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence:

• Having explored the substances that make up Earth’s surface, I can compare some of their characteristics and uses

Scottish Curriculum for Excellence Sciences Third level objectives:

• Through evaluation of a range of data, I can describe the formation, characteristics and uses of soils, minerals and basic types of rocks

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