New
New
Year 3

Mohs' scale of hardness (non-statutory)

I can learn more about the hardness of rocks from the work of important scientists.

New
New
Year 3

Mohs' scale of hardness (non-statutory)

I can learn more about the hardness of rocks from the work of important scientists.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A geologist is a type of scientist that studies what the Earth is made of. They help us to understand more about rocks.
  2. Scientists from the past, today and in the future help us to learn more about the properties and uses of rocks.
  3. The results from a scientific investigation can be compared to other investigations that have already been carried out.

Keywords

  • Rock - Rock is a solid material that occurs naturally in Earth.

  • Geologist - A geologist is someone who studies what the Earth is made of.

  • Hardness - Hardness is the quality of being difficult to bend, cut or break.

  • Mineral - A mineral occurs naturally and can be dug out of the ground.

  • Scale - A scale is a set of numbers or amounts, used to measure or compare the level of something.

Common misconception

Children may use a range of observational methods to assess hardness, e.g. “heaviness” of the object, and if it breaks on impact (test for brittleness), neither of which are a test for hardness.

Be aware of using the correct vocabulary around testing for hardness. Explain that hardness is the ability to withstand pressure.

Make sure you have access to a wide range of rocks with different hardness for this lesson, as the children need to be able to test them.
Teacher tip

Equipment

See additional resources.

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - equipment
  • Exploration of objects

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
The physical properties of a material are things we can or measure.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: observe, look at closely, look closely at, look at
Q2.
Which of these are physical properties of materials?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: How something feels.
Correct answer: How something looks.
How something is made.
How much something costs.
Correct answer: How much something weighs.
Q3.
Which of these are types of rock?
An image in a quiz
wood
Correct answer: slate
Correct answer: granite
rubber
Correct answer: sandstone
Q4.
If you scratched a rock with a nail you would be testing for ...
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: hardness
Q5.
Which of these rocks do you think was used to make this statue?
An image in a quiz
sandstone
Correct answer: marble
limestone
slate
Q6.
Which of these physical properties could you use to group types of rock?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: rough / not rough
happy / not happy
Correct answer: hard / not hard
Correct answer: layers / no layers
natural / not natural
Q5 Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

6 Questions

Q1.
A geologist is a type of scientist who studies what is made of.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: the Earth, Earth
Q2.
Geologists from the past, today and in the future help us to learn more about the __________ of rocks.
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: uses
Correct answer: properties
emotions
Q3.
Which scientist from the past helped us to learn about the physical properties of rocks through their investigations?
Marie Curie
Isaac Newton
Correct answer: Friedrich Mohs
Rosalind Franklin
Q4.
Friedrich Mohs created the Mohs' scale to measure and compare the of types of rock.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: hardness
Q5.
It is useful to __________ results of an investigation with one that has already been carried out.
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: compare
ignore
Q6.
Match the rock types to their potential uses based on their properties using Mohs' scale of hardness.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer:chalk (hardness of 1),drawing with

drawing with

Correct Answer:slate (hardness of 5.5),covering roofs and floors

covering roofs and floors

Correct Answer:diamond (hardness of 10),cutting hard materials like glass

cutting hard materials like glass

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