Malachite from the Urals

Lesson 4

Gail Streett

Yellville-Summit

Type: single lesson

Length: One class

Key Words: Malachite, Urals

Grade Level: 5^th and 6^th

Overview: Students will learn about some of the minerals and gems that come from the Ural Mountains in Western Russia. They will see examples of malachite and read a folk tale that has malachite from the Ural Mountains at its center.

Supplies: Pictures of malachite in various forms and a copy of the folk tale “The Stone Flower” (both included).

Standards: Cultural Perspectives 3.1.1 and Earth Science 3.1.5

Standard Source: Arkansas Curriculum Frameworks grades 5-8

Objectives: Students will identify malachite as a mineral that is mined in the Ural Mountains. They will discuss the fact that folk tales contain elements from the physical environment of the people who first told them.

Strategies: Give information about the Ural Mountains from the summary provided and show their location on a map of Russia. Show the pictures of malachite and then read the folk tale together.

Extension: Students could research other folk tales that contain objects from the environment of the people who told them. There are many sites on the web that break folk tales down into categories of country. These could be researched.

Assessment: Students will be able to identify the Ural Mountains on a map of Russia. They will be able to list 3 properties of malachite and tell something it is used for.

The Ural Mountains are the natural boundary between Europe and Asia as well as between Western Russia and Siberia. They were originally called “Komin” meaning Stone Mountains. The word Ural comes from Turkish and refers to the word belt. This mountain range was uplifted when the tectonic plates shifted and this brought minerals near the surface. The entire range of the Urals is mineral rich. The western Urals give oil and stone for construction. Nickel, manganese, iron, gold, platinum and precious stones come from the central Urals. The far southern Urals are eroded mountains that appear as grass plains. Peter the Great sent people out to find ores for metals in the 16^th century and cities were established in the region for the first time. The Ural Mountains have over 100 varieties of quartz and 150 different minerals were discovered in one deposit! The first deposits of malachite were discovered in the Urals.