Rock loan kits

We have several rock kits available to loan to schools and educational organisations. These kits are free to use and can be borrowed for up to 4 weeks. 

Kits can be loaned out to schools and organisations in Scotland, Wales, England, and Northern Ireland.

We have limited numbers of these kits. We will do our best to accommodate your date preferences but if we are unable to, we will contact you to arrange an alternative date. 

How to borrow

To request to borrow a kit please send an email to BGSengage@bgs.ac.uk with the following information:

• dates: two or three choices of dates to borrow the kit, in order of preference
• your name
• your school’s name
• your school’s address

Once you have sent this loan request we will aim to be in touch within a week to let you know availability and arrange for delivery on the agreed dates.

BGS will arrange for delivery of the rock kit to the address agreed. You will be expected to arrange and cover the cost of returning the kit to BGS via courier by the agreed date. Return address will be provided to you in your borrowing agreement.

Each kit comes with the following:

Rock kit:

• Rock samples – obsidian, chalk, slate, schist, marble, gabbro, sandstone, conglomerate, mudstone, shelly limestone, basalt, coal, halite, granite
• Hand lenses
• Grain size cards
• Health and safety information – including a risk assessment
• Laminated rock information sheets
• Teaching pack including suggested activities and guidance notes for using the kit, as well as links to relevant Discovering Geology pages on the BGS website

Your rock kit will come with a printed copy to use as a matching game with the rock samples, but you can also download the rock info sheets.