Extreme Rocks & Minerals: Q & A by Smithsonian, 2007, Harper Collins
It’s not like Where’s Waldo? or Flat Stanley but like where on Earth are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks?  Look at the ocean floors for igneous rocks.  Sedimentary rocks are found in some beautiful natural resources like the Grand Canyon.  Try mountain ranges for metamorphic rocks.  And where would you find the biggest and most valuable gemstones?  There’s even an island that some people call Gem Island.  Get your map or globe and go rock hunting!  Then connect to the Smithsonian web links to learn even more about rocks and minerals.

The Rock Cycle by Sally Morgan, 2009, The Rosen Publishing Group
Do your own investigations as you learn about rocks and minerals.  Try testing rocks for hardness.  Make your own sedimentary rock.  Use pumice stone to smooth your rough skin. Visit an old cemetery to investigate how different gravestones have weathered.  See how nature and weathering have created beautiful tourist attractions such as the Arches National Park and Bryce Canyon in Utah.  How can we enjoy and yet help preserve such creations?  Go to this publishers’ link for a list of Web sites about rocks.

Earth’s Hidden Treasures by Sandra Downs, 1999, Millbrook Press
From the earliest times, humans used the rocks and minerals they found in and on the Earth.  The shiny obsidian was made into knives, spears, and arrowheads.  In 1880, Pierre and Jacques Curie discovered a use for quartz that would lead to the development of the quartz watch.  The colors or pigment in minerals were used for cave paintings and now color the wax in crayons, paints, and inks.  You can find large pigment mines in Hiwassee, Virginia, Cartersville, Georgia, and Quebec, Canada.  You might want to create your own mineral-based art work.

Rock Stars; Rocks by Chris & Helen Pellant, 2009, Gareth Stevens Publishing
If rocks are really stars, you can be a ―groupie‖ and follow them to to make your own discoveries.  First, travel to Northern Ireland to see the Giant’s Causeway made up of huge basalt columns.  Then move on to Australia to see Ayers Rock, that country’s largest freestanding rock.  On the coast of Sicily can you see the trunk of the Elephant’s Arch?  You might get to northern Canada to view rocks that are almost 4 billion years old.  For a colorful sight, go to Red Lava, Iceland.  One day you might even travel to the Moon to hunt for lunar rocks.

Rockin’ Rocks by Christine Petersen, 2010, ABDO Publishing

Talk about Facebook!  How about the faces you can see in rocks like Egypt’s Great Sphinx carved from limestone?  Or travel to South Dakota to see four U.S. presidents’ faces carved in the granite of Mount Rushmore.  You won’t see a face in the Devils Tower in Wyoming but you might see bear claw marks, as a Native American story tells.  Rocks aren’t just for looking at or for climbing.  They were once homes.  Even today we use rocks in many forms to build houses, to make glass for windows, and even for sidewalk concrete.

Earth’s Rocks and Fossils by Jim Pipe, 2008, Gareth Stevens Publishing
It might not look like it but the Earth is a giant sphere of rock.  Rock is under the ground, the oceans, even under our cities.  Geologists look at layers of rock to find fossils and the clues to the Earth’s past.  Nests of dinosaur eggs have been found in Montana.  Fossils helped geologists identify the Spinosaurus dinosaur, which is even bigger than the Tyrannosaurus Rex or the Giganotosaurus.  Over millions of years fossils also turned into fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.  Do you know why these fuels are called nonrenewable resources?

Eyewitness Rocks & Minerals by R. F. Symes, 2004, DK Publishing

Who knew that the most common type of rock on earth, basalt, is also the most common type of rock on the Moon?  What a discovery!  How did someone find a rock that can float?  Can you?  Why do some beaches have black sand?  Imagine building a sand castle on one of those beaches!  What soft mineral do you use to write with?  Can you sketch a picture with it?  Do you know the difference between stalactites and stalagmites?  Try looking for them in caves.  Have you ever found an arrowhead?  What rock made this sharp weapon?  Are you beginning to wonder more about rocks and minerals?  I am!

Rocks & Minerals of the World, World Book’s Science & Nature Guides, 2007, World Book Inc.
Igneous, which means fiery, rocks start out as hot, melted magma.  Sedimentary rocks are actually made from the recycled materials from other rocks.  And metamorphic rocks are changed or metamorphosed from igneous and sedimentary rocks.  All rocks are composed of minerals that are natural, not man-made, substances.  If you choose to be a rock and mineral collector, you’ll need some supplies from home such as a backpack and camera.  Remember to take along a field notebook and a small magnifying glass.  Be careful not to damage the site.  Take only rocks that are already loose.  Try reading a geological map to help you find different types of rocks.

Hands-on Projects About Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils by Krista West, 2002, PowerKids Press
Start with a hunt in your home.  Look for common things like salt which is a mineral.  Then find others, like glass and jewelry which are made from minerals.  Have fun preparing your own ―Igneous Rock candy.  Start making a batch of coal or a fossil impression.  After you try these and other activities, design your own hands-on rocks and minerals projects for you and your friends to do.

Projects: Rocks and Minerals by Kelly Milner Halls, 2007, Heinemann
From the hypothesis to the final report and judgment, this book has all the steps for a prize-winning science fair project.  Included are nine projects.  Some are easy, some intermediate, and some hard.  Each gives research connections, the cost of the project, and how to display your work for optimal success.There are added activities to give you and your project the edge.  You’ll have the advantage of knowing what judges look for.  Creativity counts.  Be able to explain your project and present your materials in an attractive manner.  You’re a winner just by learning new things about rocks and minerals!

e.guides:Rocks and Minerals by John Farndon, 2005, DK Publishing
Discover the minerals in your body and which minerals you need to stay healthy.  What rock type does Mt. Rushmore and Half Dome in Yosemite have in common?  How does oil become trapped beneath layers of rock?  Rocks can be out of this world, literally.  Find out about space rocks.  Learn about rocks and minerals by connecting to the internet for the interactive features of this book.  Try the games and quizzes.  Download images.  Use the keyword from each section to learn more.  Check out www.rockandmineral.dkeguides.com.

National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Rocks & Minerals by Edward Ricciuti & Margaret W. Carruthers, 1998, Scholastic
Along with other tools, a geologist needs a field guide like this one that’s small enough to fit in a backpack.  Lots of great photos of rocks and minerals are included to help even the most inexperienced rock collector identify specimens. There is one section with magnified crystal shapes.  And there’s another part with minerals and their formulas.  Some of the simplest formulas are Au for gold, Ag for silver, and Cu for copper.  See which other formulas you might already know.