Are All Rare Earth Rocks Created Equal?

This lesson, developed by Cindy Nestel of Summit Middle School, is designed to be a follow-up lesson to "Which Rare Earth Element Will Be Named 'The Element of the Year?'" The lesson serves as an integrated science and math activity, in which students analyze data about rare earth elements and read charts and graphs about the contents of rocks picked up in an area where rare earth elements will be mined in the future.

Designed for middle-school aged students, students will spend one 45-minute class period working in pairs to calculate the mass of rare earth elements in rocks, identify correlations between the size and cost of rocks, interpret and analyze rock data, evaluate the effectiveness of using a bubble graph, justify whether all of the rocks came from one larger rock, and explain that not all rare earth elements are created equal. To complete the lesson, students will need a periodic table, pencil, and calculator. This lesson assumes prior knowledge of the basic of atomic structure, how the Periodic Table of Elements is arranged, what rare earth elements are, how to do basic math, and how to read a pie chart. 

Included with the lesson is a student data worksheet and an answer key for instructors.