Dig into one of Year 3’s most hands-on science topics with this vivid, visual lesson on rocks and soils. Pupils start by spotting rock all around them - in buildings, roads, mountains and even on the beach - before meeting the three rock families in turn: igneous born from fire, sedimentary built in layers, and metamorphic changed by heat and pressure. Clear comparison slides and memorable prompts (“fire, layers, change”) make the classification stick. The lesson then unpicks what soil actually is, comparing sandy, clay, loam and peaty soils, and explains how fossils end up inside sedimentary rock. Two proper practical investigations are built in: a rock testing and sorting task using scratch and water tests, and the classic soil settling jar that reveals beautiful layers of sand, silt, clay and humus. A quick quiz and a “why this matters” section on food, building and climate complete a full, ready-to-teach hour.

A ready-to-teach PowerPoint lesson for Year 3 Science, covering how to compare and group rocks by their properties and how soil forms from rock and organic matter.