What's in the Crust? (Grades 4-6)
Eight elements make most of the minerals in the crust of the Earth.
Learning the names and relative abundances of these elements is the goal
of activity 5. Boxes are provided that are proportional in size to the
abundance of each element. The names of the elements are provided at the
bottom of the page. To help learn the order of abundance of the
minerals, the students might develop a short phrase using the first
letter of each mineral. For example, our search around islands can show
potential minerals. Students must match the name with the proper box.
Answers are given in the background for this lesson.
Activity 5. What's in the Crust?
The boxes below represent the relative abundances of the elements in the
crust. Match the name with the box that represents the abundance of the
element. The numbers are the weight percent of each element in the crust.
magnesium aluminum potassium silicon
iron sodium calcium oxygen
To VolcanoWorld