Explore Rocks and Minerals!

Have you ever wondered what those sparkly specks in the piece of gravel in your driveway might be? Or why some crystals grow so big? In Explore Rocks and Minerals! kids can try activities that will help them figure out the answers, from testing minerals and making crystals, to making yummy models of the earth and volcanic meringue cookies. Explore Rocks and Minerals! presents an in-depth discussion of how minerals form, teaching readers ages 6–9 all about some of the most interesting and most common minerals. It also explores how and why the earth changes, including the rock cycles of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.

The book introduces kids to fossils and what they tell us about the past, and how to start their own collections of rocks, minerals, and fossils. Sidebars about people in geology, such as a kid who helped discover a new kind of dinosaur, or a geologist who proposed a theory that no one else believed for a long time, help kids see the human side of geology. Kids can read about researchers who use cornstarch and water to learn more about how volcanic rocks form six-sided columns, then try exactly the same experiment themselves. Students and teachers can try the experiments and read through the book systematically to get the big picture, or they can pick out projects to try in any order.