Scholastic: StudyJams: Minerals – Site offers pictures with information under each one.
Science Kids: Rocks & Minerals– Earth facts about rocks and minerals. One Geology:Rocks & Minerals – Kid friendly interactive site. Interactive Sites For Education: Rocks & Minerals – Click on a window to go to a new site with an interactive game that is rock related. Geology.com: Rocks– Site offers lots of pictures and information, including news about rocks and minerals. Minerals.net – This site offers a vast selection of minerals in A-Z format. Click on a name to find out the chemical make up of the item selected, in addition to group, specific gravity and much more. Pictures are also provided. KidsKonnect:Rocks & Minerals– Quick facts.
PettyRock: Crystal Meaning – Fun Facts: Gem Myths and Meanings Ellen Steiber: About The Stones: Gem lore across cultures. Crystal-Cure: Gemstones: Meanings & Properties– Site offers information and pictures about many gemstones: their meaning and the beliefs surrounding them. Gem Select: Gemstone Meanings – Click on each name to find out more about the gemstone. Peaceful Mind: Crystal & Gemstone Therapy – Site offers a crystal dictionary of metaphysical meanings and meanings. Burke Museum: Birthstones– Site offers information about each month’s birthstones, including myths and histories.
Experiments
Fran’s World of Discovery: Geodes – Information about geode creation, and experiments to make on your own.
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Note:Has this or another activity on Fran’s World of Discovery inspired you or someone else in a positive way? Have you featured this activity in a blog post? I invite you to comment and link back to where your post can be found, or tell me what you or your family enjoyed about the post! Thank you!
A mummified frog was discovered in a flint geode in 1899!
Activity: Make your own “geode”
It may take thousands of years for a real geode to form, but with this activity you will have crystals growing in just a few days!
The following sites will explain how to grow your own crystal “geodes”:
Crystal Geode Project Make a crystal geode with alum, hot water, clean egg shells or plaster of Paris, and food coloring
Make your own Geode Egg Make a geode with borax, hot water, clean egg shells, and food coloring
We made a variety of “geodes” using sugar, salt or alum and poured each solution into clean egg shells.
Here are the results of our experiment:
Picture 1: Salt “geode”
Picture 1 We added green food coloring (made with blue and yellow food coloring) to a salt solution and poured it into a clean egg shell. As you can see the colors separated! It was very interesting to watch. We allowed the solution to evaporate on its own which took a couple of weeks.
Picture 2: Alum
Picture 3: Alum
Pictures 2 and 3 This solution was made with alum, a pickling spice, and it made crystals that look like a hexagon. Each one took a couple of weeks to become what you see.
Picture 4: Sugar
Picture 4 This solution was made with sugar and blue food coloring. Our solution was very saturated and as the water evaporated, it looked like a thick tar-like syrup!
Note: Results may vary.
Tip: Be sure to make a super-saturated solution so that your crystals will grow.
Question of the day:
How does a geode form?
Learn more: Rock Frogs Find out how a frog winds up inside a rock!
About: Geology Offers information about rocks, minerals, geology basics, maps, quakes, earthquakes, landforms and more.
Wikipedia: Geode Learn how geodes are formed, coloration, and where they can be found.
USGS United States Geological Survey: Research and monitoring, news, and much more.
Geology News and Information About Geology and Earth Science
OneGeology An international initiative of the geological surveys of the world.
OneGeology – Kids Find out what geology is, learn about geological maps, rocks and minerals, earthquakes, volcanoes, and much more, with cute little character icons to guide the way.
Fossils – Facts – and – Finds According to the site, they offer inspiration and fun to kids who are interested in rocks. There are teacher’s resources offered such as earth science lesson plans, coloring page s, activities (puzzles), fossils, and other things.
Geology for Kids An in-depth online geology textbook written for kids.
Geode Match – Game Match the geodes before your time runs out!
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