Minecraft Education Edition: Museum Math: Rocks and Minerals: Grades 3-8

About this course

Welcome to the world of Rocklandia! In the Rocklandia Research Centre, students will discover that three different scientists from the Royal Ontario Museum are visiting Rocklandia to learn more about igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. But these real ROM scientists need your students' help! 

Students will travel to three different research sites to gather samples, make observations, talk to scientists, take photos with their camera, and document their learning using the book and quill. Each site holds environmental clues that help students learn how the rocks found at each site were formed. Along the way, students encounter obstacles blocking their paths. Students will need to use consecutive, concurrent, repeated, and nested coding to program their agent to help them overcome the obstacles and help the scientists complete their research. Then, students will design and build a museum together in a shared world to put their learning on display! 

Each 1.5-hour class will be broken down into 2 main sections:  

1. 30 Minute mini-lesson on an element of coding or rocks and minerals: 

• Igneous rocks 
• Sedimentary rocks 
• Metamorphic rocks 
• Impacts of mining 
• Code basics  

2. Independent work with peer and teacher support to complete Phase 1 of the program, and collaborative group work to co-create a rock and mineral museum in a shared world in Phase 2.

What you’ll learn

By the end of this course, students will....

• Make observations and gather information about igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks and minerals.
• Use consecutive, concurrent, repeated, and nested coding to overcome a series of obstacles.
• Create a museum of rocks and minerals to reflect their learning, with an emphasis on inclusivity and accessibility.

Materials

Students will be provided with all course material during each lesson, as well as their own personal section in our Class Notebook, which they are strongly encouraged to use for planning and reflection.  Students are expected to have a high-speed internet connection in order to conduct effective online classes.  Each student should come prepared with a notepad and pen, as well as a growth mindset! We will be using Flipgrid to document our code progression.  If students are using Macs, screen sharing must be enabled for Teams and Google Chrome.