The Rock Cycle

ScienceVolcanoes & EarthquakesAges 9–11

Understand the rock cycle: rocks slowly change from one type to another over millions of years — igneous rock weathers into sediment, sediment becomes sedimentary rock, heat and pressure create metamorphic rock, and melting starts the cycle again

Teach this topic

Share and support

Teaching Table

Set out your lesson

Practise the bounded task in The Rock Cycle; see exact limits before inferring broader coverage.

Activity

Sequence changes without assuming a compulsory starting point.

Policy

Exact directed source edges retained; earlier authorship is not learner attainment.

Materials

These supplied stage cards
Scrap paper and pencil; oral/pointing response where appropriate

Sequence

Read readiness and decide on support without treating prerequisite authoring as learner readiness.
Open Show first and explain its model.
Use Guided Try with support and its separate adult key.
Close Show and guided keys before Try, unless this Try is explicitly supported.
Reflect on an actual attempt, including help used.

No Printer

Use the supplied screen cards; copying the exact task to paper is optional, not required.

Privacy

Use only invented scenarios and optional anonymous local notes. Do not request names, photos, family finances, medical data, accounts or uploads. Stop uncomfortable physical activity.

Use the complete materials on screen or print only the current sheet. Keep adult guidance out of learner view. Retain an earlier model only when the current step supplies it as context.

Teaching limits and safe use

These are finite task opportunities, not proof of mastery. Record what was attempted and what support was used.

No specimen identification, absolute dating or claim all processes require millions of years.

Use only invented scenarios and optional anonymous local notes. Do not request names, photos, family finances, medical data, accounts or uploads. Stop uncomfortable physical activity.

Share teaching feedback Continue to your family plan

Entire curriculum

1590 concepts · 8 subjects

Compare teaching approaches

Teaching approaches

Gakuva’s recommended starting approach is selected. You can still compare every option.

1 approach

Selected Default Gakuva

Practise the bounded task in The Rock Cycle; see exact limits before inferring broader coverage.

Family records and proof options

Keep a record of your learning

Save photos, notes, and attendance. Export a proof packet for compliance or portfolio reviews.

Start Family ($12/mo) See sample proof packet

Learning resources

External links for extra practice. They do not replace Gakuva’s teaching approach.

No additional resources are listed for this topic.

The teaching approach appears above.

Check understanding

Describe the rock cycle as a continuous process with no beginning or end
Trace at least one complete path through the cycle from igneous to sedimentary to metamorphic and back
Explain that the rock cycle operates over millions of years through weathering, pressure, heat, and melting

“If your child saw igneous rock, sandstone, and marble side by side, could they explain how each type forms and how rocks slowly transform from one type to another in a never-ending cycle?”

Curriculum record

Type: Conceptual
Subject: Science
Domain: Volcanoes & Earthquakes
Age range: Ages 9–11