1. Instructor: Kenneth Malafy
Grade Level: 8-9th
.
Unit: 1 (Rocks and Minerals)
Title: Common New York City Building Stones
Lesson Time: 60 minutes
Standards (NGSS)
ESS 2.A: Earth's Materials and Systems
ESS 3.8: Natural Resources
Humans depend on Earth's land, ocean, atmosphere and biosphere for many different resources. These
include rocks and minerals.
Lesson Objective
After this lesson students will be able to identify common rocks (marble, granite, limestone and
sandstone) used as building materials in New York City.
Focus Questions
What is marble and how can I identify it?
What is granite and how can I identify it?
What is limestone and how can I identify it?
What is sandstone and how can I identify it?
Why do certain rocks and stones make better building materials than others?
How can I photograph building materials (use of scale)?
Lesson Agenda
Entrance Ticket
Rock Identification Activity
Share Out
Introduction to common New York City building stones
Questions
Take Home Assignment
Materials
Two samples of marble
Two samples of granite
Two samples of limestone
Two samples of sandstone
Index Cards
Vocabulary
marble

2. limestone
granite
sandstone
igneous
metamorphic
sedimentary
scale
Assessment
Student's comments during the share out (informal)
Student's Questions (informal)
Take home assignment (formal)
Lesson
Entrance Ticket:
“What building materials is your house/ apartment building made from? Why do you think the builders
chose those materials?”
Take 2-3 minutes to answer the question in your notebook or journal.
Rock identification Activity
The instructor will set up four tables. Each table will have two samples of the same rock. The students
will be split into four groups. Each group will go to a sample table. They will have five minutes to
describe the rock samples on that table (students can draw the sample). After five minutes, the groups
switch tables. This process repeats until each group has surveyed each table.
Share Out
Students share their observations from the rock identification activity.
Introduction to common New York City building stones
Based on students comments during the share out, the instructor will take this time to address any
misconceptions the students have. The instructor will also go over each rock sample from the rock
identification activity and provide any information the students may have missed during the activity.
The instructor will also describe the correct technique for photographing building stones, including the
use of scale.
Questions
The instructor will introduce the take home assignment and review it with the students. Students will
have a chance to ask any questions regarding the material covered in the lesson or the take home
assignment.

3. Take Home Assignment Sheet
Name:
Date:
Class:
New York City Building Stones
I. Go to a building and observe the stones it is constructed from. The building must be constructed from
one of the stones introduced in class (marble, limestone, granite and sandstone). Note: the building
does not have to be wholly constructed from the material, just part of it. It can be any building: your
house, the school building, a local bank or even a subway station.
II. Take at least four pictures of the building. One picture should be an overview and there should be at
least two up close pictures of the stone with scale included. These pictures must be handed in with the
assignment.
III. Identify the stone in the picture. Is it igneous, metamorphic or sedimentary? What characteristics of
the stone lead to your decision?
IV. Why do you think the builders chose this type of stone?
V. Extra Credit
Take a picture of a second stone on the building and identify it.

4. Rubric
No Mastery (55): Assignment is missing or incomplete
Competent (75): Assignment is complete but: some of the information is wrong, the pictures are not
clear and the work is sloppy and includes grammatical and spelling errors.
Good (85): All the work is complete and mostly correct. The pictures are good and the work is neat,
there are few grammatical or spelling errors
Exemplary (95): All the work is complete and correct. The pictures are clear, the work is neat and there
are very little grammatical mistakes or spelling errors.