To find out information on minerals and rocks for reports or just for fun, try the Minerals and Rocks site created by the Louisiana Earth Science Teachers Association. It has in-depth information on minerals and rocks. You can learn from the written information or from the good visuals. The homepage allows you to select from a variety of sites which are easy to access. One of the links features the rock cycle showing sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks. A slide show demonstrates many minerals plus the three kinds of rocks. There is an atlas of rocks with a variety of rocks shown. Nearly any question about minerals and rocks can be answered by using the site. Children and adults would be able to learn from the information pictures. [note: URL was updated in this report on 4/27/00. Previous URL was listed as: http://cust3.iamerica.net/lesta/minerals.htm]
Reviewed by Danielle

This site is a very good site if you are looking for information on a wide variety of rocks and minerals. You will learn why rocks are minerals but not all minerals are rocks. The page has pictures of rocks and minerals along with detailed information on each plus some of their unusual characteristics. We recommend this site for grades four and up. This page was created by The Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is easy to navigate. It is excellent if you need a little information in quick time period. There are links to rocks and mineral galleries, museums, and scientists.
Reviewed by John and Tim

Did you know that caves are made of minerals? The Virtual Cave is a great place to find out tons of information about lots of different minerals found in caves. This site was created by Djuna Bewley and Dave Bunnell. This site takes you on a fun-filled adventure to an imaginary cave. You can read and see what can be found in a real cave with lots of colorful photos and loads of information. If you are looking for a specific mineral, they are in alphabetical order. All you need to do is click on its name and you will see its picture, read about how it was formed, and learn about the caves where it is located. The grammar is great and the words are chosen very well. The reading level is aimed for junior high and up but younger kids would enjoy the pictures.
Reviewed by Jennifer and Kellie

This website is an excellent resource if you need to find information about rocks and minerals. In this website you can get a great deal of information on sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks and how each kind was formed. There are also some really good images of rocks. As for minerals, a list allows you to find whichever mineral you desire. Along with the information on minerals, this website includes the methods used in identifying minerals and very good pictures, which help in the identification. I recommend this site, which is easy to navigate, to anyone age 10 and up.
Reviewed by Laura

The site I found useful was The Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom. It contains information on all types of gemstones and includes interesting facts about all minerals from A to Z. You can search for minerals not only alphabetically, but by color, chemical group, and other ways. Each mineral has a detailed description, information about its uses, its chemical formula, and colorful photos. The site also includes a dictionary with terms dealing with rocks and minerals, which would be helpful for reports. Additional minerals are being added to this site to keep it up-to-date. Ninth graders and up will find the information here to be useful.
Reviewed by James

This site, from Cape Cod, provides many pictures and information for children in grades three through six about rocks. It loads in a reasonable amount of time and has many great links to other mineral and fossil web sites. This site provides a gallery of photos in alphabetical order and for some, tell where the rocks originally came from. The photos are colorful, showing detail to be found in specific rocks.
Reviewed by Dana

Rocks and Minerals lists Research/Informational Sites that contain much information. It tells you how scientists find out the age of rocks, types of rocks, how rocks are formed, and a rock cycle. The rock cycle is very detailed; it tells how different rocks change over time. You can learn to tell rocks and minerals apart. The colorful pictures are detailed and appealing. One cool thing is that there is a geology quiz you can take. I think this is a creative site with good information for sixth grade and up. It also includes lesson plans for teachers.
Reviewed by Robert