In honour of Mining Week celebrations across Canada this spring, we’ve compiled a series of DIY activities for kids about Earth science, the minerals industry and it’s importance to society. We like to think of our DIY activities as GEMS, because they explore Geology, Engineering, Mining and Sustainability.

So grab your hard hat and get ready to dig into a mine load of fun!

In honour of Mining Week celebrations across Canada this spring, we’ve compiled a series of activities from our Deeper and Deeper classroom resource that teachers can easily adapt and share with their students. Parents can also download and engage in learning with their kids about Earth science, the minerals industry and it’s importance to society.

So grab your hard hat and get ready to dig into a mine load of fun!

DIY Activities for Mining Week - “What to Do” for the kids, Activity Explanations and Material Lists for teachers and parents
Student Investigation File - This is the corresponding notebook where kids record their observations and answers to questions
Teacher Investigation File - This is the corresponding notebook for teachers and parents with some helpful notes to help with the learning

Rock and Mineral Concentration Game (Activity 4)
An online version of our Rock and Mineral Concentration game. In the upper right the number of pairs can be adjusted from 2 to 25. There is also a classroom mode to turn on a grid and coordinates if multiple people are playing together.

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Rock and Mineral Match
Learn about different rocks and minerals while testing your memory. In the upper right the number of pairs can be adjusted from 2 to 25. There is also a classroom mode to turn on a grid and coordinates if multiple people are playing together.

Mining Posters from NRCan

Bilingual posters about surface and underground mines, published by NRCan, Minerals and Metals Sector.

• surface mine
• underground mine
• concentrator
• smelting and refining

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Sandvik animations

 

 

Mine Site Reclamation Card (Activity 7)
Click on the title above to access the file. This shows two different mines before and after reclamation. 

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What's Yours is Mined (Activity 9)

This game can be played in a number of different ways, here are some we have adapted to an online format.

• Recycling Rocks and Minerals (Recommended)
  • What happens to products manufactured from rocks and minerals when they are no longer useful? Play this game to find out! Select the appropriate "product destination." Don't forget, some products can be disposed of in more than one way so you might want to select multiple!
  • *Hint: Read the Bulletin on page 49*
• Recycling Rocks and Minerals (Challenging)
  • An extended version of the Kahoot! listed above.
• Concentration Matching Game
  • Test your knowledge of what is in your stuff and your memory at the same time! In the upper right the number of pairs can be adjusted from 2 to 30. There is also a classroom mode to turn on a grid and coordinates if multiple people are playing together.

Nickel Quest is an educational video produced by the Ontario Mining Association that provides a virtual tour of an underground nickel mine.

Music from the Earth

Review the Poster and then play our Kahoot! quiz game.

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Mining Matters Activity Book
The Mining Matters Activity Book for youth ages 9 to 13 years is packed with puzzles, it includes codes to crack, things to spot, word searches, crosswords, Sudoku and more! These activities encourage kids to learn about rocks, minerals, metals, mining and careers in the minerals industry. Mining Matters thanks Kinross Gold for their publication sponsorship. 

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Mining Matters Colouring Book
Welcome to the world of the Mighty Miner! This colouring and activity book can be used by students to learn about mining with the help of Mighty Miner (MM for short)! Through this 20-page activity book, MM will be your guide through an adventure that will help you to answer the question: "What is a mine?"

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groundWORK
Newsletter for educators, packed with additional resources and virtual field trip ideas.

Inside Education
Inside Education empowers teachers to inspire and engage young stewards by incorporating environmental and natural resource education into their classrooms. They are offering teacher professional development, online presentations, as well as learning resources for grades 1 to 12.

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Embark on a 360-Degree Geologic Expedition
Explore the Columns of the Giants in California with full 360-degree views. Explore each stop using the 360° photosphere scenes, clicking each of the tags and 3D models to make observations and sketches of details you find geologically interesting in your field notebook. (Be sure to pick up and observe 3D models of rocks by clicking on the cube icon when it appears at stops #1 and #5.)

Create your own jointed columns using cornstarch and water. Instructions here.

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Life and Evolution

Here are some websites to help explore life, evolution, and how the world changed as life evolved (also dinosaurs).

• Spectrum of Life
• Evolution 101
• Interactive globe of ancient Earth
• Dinosaurs

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The OpenScience Laboratory
This online laboratory brings interactive practical science to students anywhere and anytime the internet is available. The laboratory features investigations based on on-screen instruments, remote access experiments and virtual scenarios using real data. Several activities are available to all, while others are available only to registered users.

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Geoscience Aware Challenge
More then 30 hands-on learning activities produced by Mining Matters, the Government of Manitoba, and the Canadian Geoscience Education Network for the Girl Guides of Canada, Manitoba Chapter.