Georgia SKE2.a
The Standard
Ask questions to identify and describe earth materials—soil, rocks, water, and air.
Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science · Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to describe the physical attributes of earth materials (soil, rocks, water, and air).
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students observe common materials and use words such as hard, rough, wet, dry, clear, or moving to describe them. They ask questions that help identify an unknown sample.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can name a sample as soil, rock, water, or air and give an observable reason. The student can ask a useful question about its color, texture, shape, or movement.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think air is empty space because it cannot be seen. They may call all small rock pieces soil or describe materials by color alone.
How to Assess It
- Show pictures of a rock, garden soil, water, and an inflated balloon. Ask each student to name one material, describe one property, and ask one question about it.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Place soil, rocks, water, and an inflated zip bag on a tray, then have pairs observe safely and record describing words.
Ask students how they could identify a mystery material without being told its name, then chart their questions.
Play Mystery Material by revealing one clue at a time while students hold up soil, rock, water, or air picture cards.
Walk around school to locate rock, soil, water, and evidence of air, such as a waving flag.
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Printable SKE2.a Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to SKE2.a, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- S6E5.d
Ask questions to identify types of weathering, agents of erosion and transportation, and environments of deposition.
- S3E1
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the physical attributes of rocks and soils.
- SKE2
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to describe the physical attributes of earth materials (soil, rocks, water, and air).
- S6E5.a
Ask questions to compare and contrast the Earth's crust, mantle, inner and outer core, including temperature, density, thickness, and composition.
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