Middle School Science Lessons

 Objectives: students will learn the properties of minerals and apply them to common objects

Lesson Resources:

• What is a Mineral? Guided lesson with instructions for group activity (Google Slides)
• Task Cards: Mineral- Sorting Activity (pdf)
• Handout & Notes: guided notes

I used this activity as an introduction to my minerals and mining unit. Students learn the 5 properties of minerals (SNIFC) and apply them to a variety of items to categorize each item as either a mineral or non-mineral.

I also have the slides in a pdf format if you would like to have the students sort the items first, then discuss each item and why they think it is or isn’t a mineral. Then, they can view the answers afterwards.

April 2020 – Distance Learning Version Added

Students will watch a video on the 5 properties of minerals and sort using Google Slides

• Using Google Classroom – assign the Google Slides and make a copy for each student.
• For incorrect answers, I colored the boxes in orange so students can see which ones do not belong.

 updated 4/12/25