The Rock Cycle Word Search, Scramble and Crossword

⭐I made this rock cycle puzzle set for my Grade 4 students during our Earth science unit. The kids understood the three rock types but got lost when we added heat, pressure, melting, and cooling into one cycle. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like weathering, erosion, deposition, burial, compaction, cementation, strata, heat, pressure, foliation, recrystallization, melting, cooling, subduction, and uplift. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help them see how it all connects.

The download is six pages. Three puzzles plus an answer key page for each. The word search works well for quiet time after lunch. The scramble gets them talking because they argue over whether "compaction" or "cementation" comes first. The crossword I use for partners. I added a couple simple arrow and rock drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for Grades 4 and 5. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers draw a tiny rock cycle on the back with labels. The kids actually ask for these now.