RockLicker · Grade 3 · Lesson 3 of 5

Rock-Cycle Routes

Trace two different possible paths through the rock cycle and label the processes.

  • Grade 3
  • 40 minutes
  • Worksheet + teacher guidance
Back to Grade 3

What you will learn

Igneous rocks form when molten material cools; sedimentary rocks form from accumulated material through processes such as compaction and cementation; metamorphic rocks change under heat, pressure or fluids without melting. There is no single required cycle route.

Words to use

  • igneous: from cooled molten material
  • sedimentary: from accumulated material
  • metamorphic: changed without melting

Work through the activity

  1. 5 min · Meet the typesRead the three origin descriptions. Focus on how the rocks form, not just how they look.
  2. 15 min · Draw a routeStart with igneous rock. Add weathering and erosion, sediment deposition, then compaction and cementation to reach a sedimentary rock.
  3. 10 min · Add another routeDraw a path from igneous rock directly to metamorphic rock through heat and pressure without melting. Explain which steps were skipped.
  4. 10 min · ExplainAsk a partner to follow both routes. Add a note that melting creates molten material before cooling makes another igneous rock.
RockLicker
GRADE 3 · LESSON 3

Rock-Cycle Routes

Draw on the printed sheet or write, type or dictate your response.
Draw on the printed sheet or write, type or dictate your response.
Draw on the printed sheet or write, type or dictate your response.
Draw on the printed sheet or write, type or dictate your response.

Responses stay in this open page only. Print before closing or changing pages; no student record is stored online.

Check your understanding

Heat and pressure change a rock without melting it. The result can be …

Teacher & family guide · answers and assessment

Grade 3 · Rock-Cycle Routes

Learning goal: Trace two different possible paths through the rock cycle and label the processes.

Expected responses

  1. Cooling and solidification.
  2. Include breakdown/transport, deposition and formation of rock through compaction/cementation.
  3. Heat and pressure without melting can change an existing rock.
  4. No. Paths can branch, repeat or skip types.

Understanding check: metamorphic rock. Metamorphism changes existing rock while it remains solid.

Watch for this misconception

Metamorphism does not require melting; a melted rock takes a different route.

Assess the evidence

Look for the observations, calculation or explanation named in the learning goal. Accept accurate drawings and dictated responses. Use the expected responses to discuss reasoning; a correct guess without explanation is a starting point for another conversation.

Adapt and extend

Read prompts aloud, enlarge print or let a partner record the learner’s explanation. Add a pathway from sedimentary to metamorphic rock and compare it with your first routes.