1. Exploring How Rocks and Soil Make Useful Products

2. Did you know that rocks are used in….
Buildings
Explain to students that all these things are made from rocks and/or minerals. From ancient times to the present, humans have been using rocks to build shelters, homes, and other buildings. Much of the materials used for building are made from rocks; therefore, rocks are useful to building.

3. How are rocks useful in this picture?
The rock wall is used to control water in a retaining pond in this neighborhood. You can see the concrete walls in the distance serve as the border, while the rock wall acts as a barrier on the inside of the pond. When it rains, water collects in this area and drains off slowly to avoid flooding

4. Did you know that rocks and minerals are used in…
Food
You may wish to omit this slide if you feel the content is more than students will understand. We consume or use up rocks and minerals every day. The salt on our food is a mineral. Limestone is used in bread, cereal, and chewing gum as a source of calcium. Minerals, such as salt, are used to flavor foods.

5. Transportation Did you know that rocks and minerals are used in…
Rocks provide roadways for vehicles to travel on, rail road tracks for trains, and sidewalks for us to walk, run, or skate on.
Did you know that rocks and minerals are used in…

6. Did you know that rocks and minerals are used in…
Jewelry
Much of the jewelry people wear started off as rock or stones. Diamonds are also called gemstones and can be found in the ground.
When most people hear about diamonds, they think of jewelry even though most diamonds are used in industry to cut and polish softer rocks and minerals.
People have been making jewelry for thousands of years. Precious metals, like gold and silver, are the most popular minerals used.
Precious and semi-precious stones are used because of their beauty.

7. Rocks are used to make useful products…
Every Day
Rocks can also be used for everyday household needs. If you look around your home, you can find many things that are made from rocks. The grit on our sandpaper is crushed garnets.
Many things that we use every day, such as pencils, filing cabinets, computers, coat hangers, and cooking pots, are made of minerals. The picture of the broken pencil shows the graphite in the center; graphite is a type of rock.
Rocks are also used in decorating. Statues made out of marble or other forms of rock.

8. How are rocks useful in this picture?
Rocks are used on the house. They are limestone rocks.
Limestone is also used to decorate the flowerbed.
The flowerbed is made from stone (rocks) as well.

9. How is soil useful?
There are many ways we use soil every day.

10. Soil helps plants and trees grow.
In order for trees and most plants to live and grow, they must have soil.
Make connections with students to the previous lesson about soil and its components (air, water, organic material, and rocks/minerals).

11. What do you see in these pictures?
Soil provides living things with food from plants. Farmers plant crops each year to grow food. Fruit bearing trees and plants, and vines, such as pumpkin plants, provide humans and animals food to eat. Vegetables come from plants that grow in the soil.

12. Soil helps provide us with clothing
Soil helps provide us with clothing. Plants, such as cotton and flax, provide us with the textiles to make clothing such as t-shirts and socks.

13. Uses of soil…
Soil provides us with the foundation for buildings, such as the foundation for the house in the picture. It also provides the foundation for roads that allow us to travel from one place to another.

14. rabbit mud dauber mud dauber nest prairie dog
Animals and insects, such as mud daubers, make their nests from soil (known as clay). Prairie dogs, rabbits, and other animals burrow underground for shelter. The animals’ home is a useful product from soil.
mud dauber nest
prairie dog

15. How is soil useful in this picture?
This is a picture of a farm. The plants have just been planted in the soil. The soil will help the plants grow.

16. There are many ways rocks and soil make useful products
There are many ways rocks and soil make useful products. Can you name a few?