External Links
Interested in additional Earth science information and activities to supplement your trip to the Clarence R. Smith Mineral Museum?
Below you will find links to external websites containing educational content for various Earth science topics.
Please note that the Clarence R. Smith Mineral Museum is not affiliated with and does not endorse these online resources.
- Lesson Plans & Resources:
- Photo Gallery: Moon Rocks
- Games & Activities:
- Articles:
- Infographic: Comet, Asteroid, Meteoroid, Meteor, Meteorite
- Lesson Plans & Resources:
- Fossil Preparation from Field to Museum
- Fossilization – How Fossils Form
- Mass Extinction of Dinosaurs and More
- The Great Fossil Find
- American Geosciences Institute – Fossil Unit
- Weighing the Evidence for a Mass Extinction: On Land
- Weighing the Evidence for a Mass Extinction: In the Ocean
- Mohawk Guy and his Band of Neogene Planktic Foraminifer Friends
- Microfossils in Blake’s Nose
- Photo Gallery: Smithsonian Paleobiology Collection
- Games & Activities: Fossil Cookies
- Articles:
- Lesson Plans & Resources:
- Games & Activities:
- Databases
- Mindat.org – “is the world’s largest open database of minerals, rocks, meteorites and the localities they come from”.
- Minerals.net – has photo galleries, Q&A, and other information.
- Webmineral.com is a mineral database with an element composition search box.
- Petrographic data files for several minerals – includes thin section photos
- Lesson Plans & Resources
- Articles:
- Infographic:
- Websites:
- USGS National Minerals Information Center – data, statistics, yearly summaries, and publications about mined minerals
- Videos
- Minerals & Ores & The Extraction of Minerals
- Can Diamonds Made in a Lab Replace Natural Ones? (briefly explores diamond mining and conflicts)
- Acid Mine Drainage
- Lesson Plans & Resources:
- Websites:
- Videos:
Explore geology in Ohio:
- Caves
- Seneca Caverns (Bellevue, Ohio)
- Perry’s Cave (South Bass Island, Ohio)
- Ohio Caverns (West Liberty, Ohio)
- Parks
- Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park (Nelson Township, Ohio)
- Thompson Ledges (Thompson, Ohio)
- Hocking Hills Ohio
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park
- Museums
- The Cleveland Museum of Natural History (Cleveland, Ohio)
- Orton Geological Museum (Colombus, Ohio)
- Clubs
- Other
- Volcano Webquest
- Lava Layering: Making and Mapping a Volcano an activity from NASA
- Living with a volcano in your backyard – an educator’s guide with emphasis on Mount Rainier a list of activities divided into 3 chapters from the USGS
- Volcano Geochemistry – Windows to Earth’s Interior a video from the Smithsonian
- Modeling and Measuring Volcanic Eruptions
- Travel Through the Rock Cycle
- Interactive Rock Cycle
- The Rock Cycle
- Interactive
- Video: Rocks for Kids-Learn all about geology and rocks
- Children’s book Old Rock (is not boring) – website also has activities to go along with the book
- Video: Caitie’s Classroom Field Trip – Rocks & Minerals for Kids
- Mineralogy4Kids
- Lesson Plans & Resources:
- Earth science lesson plans from The Science Spot
- Contact a USGS geologist
- Archive of EARTH magazine online articles
- Plate Motion Calculator
- List of U.S. state minerals, rocks, stones, and gemstones
- List of Mineral-related links
- Free Models to print and color for various items including: Earthquake, ocean crust, jetty, & more
- National Park Service – Educators page
- HHMI Biointeractive – teaching resources
- Groundwater.org – teaching resources
- Lesson plan about erosion and sediment transportation
- USGS publications
- Interactive Periodic Table
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Lesson Plans
- The National Map
- Games & Activities:
- Simple Rock and Mineral Scratch test
- Evaporation from a String make your own stalagmites and stalactites
- Infographics:
- Video:
- Four destinations that feel like geologic theme parks
- The ten most spectacular geologic sites
- 10 Things You May Not Know About Yellowstone National Park
- The geology of Mt. Everest
- New map provides comprehensive look at Hawaii’s ever-changing geology
- Museums
- The Sterling Hill Mining Museum (New Jersey)
- Virtual Tour of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
- Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh, PA)
- Rock/Mineral/Gem Shows
Oldest story ever told was about a volcano
Pharaohs used minerals for pigments
Excerpts from the book A History of Geology and Medicine on Google Books
The history of fluoridation in drinking water
Spinel History & Lore – includes info about the Black Prince’s Ruby
The Modoc War & Captain Jack’s Stronghold (a natural lava fortress)
What do we mean by “Nature of Science”?
According to The National Science Teaching Association: Nature of science (NOS) is a critical component of scientific literacy that enhances students’ understandings of science concepts and enables them to make informed decisions about scientifically-based personal and societal issues. For more information, click here.
- 2019 article about a “new” mineral – how it was discovered, who it was named after, etc.
- Why we should stop ignoring the life stories of minerals
- Article (June 2021): ‘Fool’s Gold’ actually contains a newly discovered type of real gold
- How the Burgess Shale changed our view of evolution
- Moon rock found on Earth
- Reconstructing a prehistoric environment based on fossil evidence
- Article (February 2022): How fault lines in a kitchen sink are changing what we know about geology
- Which elements will disappear in the next 100 years
Article (2022) – Geologists have closely analyzed two bizarre ‘blobs’ detected deep inside Earth
Article (November 2021): From deep within Earth’s mantle, this never-before-seen mineral hitched a ride to the surface in a diamond.
- Scientists create a mineral in the lab that captures carbon dioxide (ScienceNews article from 2018)
