A GEOLOGIST invited primary pupils to become rock stars for the day.

Rocks to Schools founder Ken Weilding visited Reid Street Primary School in Darlington recently to host a workshop in earth science.

Pupils were given a hands-on lesson as part of their studies into the story of the earth.

The children handled fossils and minerals from around the world as they learned more about the formation of volcanoes and the earth’s core.

Seven-year-old Abbie Harrington was impressed with the unusual lesson.

She said: “It’s been really good fun and I even got to hold lava that was once from a real life volcano.”

Mr Weilding said: “The children love to be able to handle the different types of rocks and fossils, like lava, and perform basic scientific tests on them to find out if they are porous or if they hold in the heat.

“Hopefully lessons like this will help to inspire these young minds to pursue science throughout their education and who knows, there may be a future geologist here in the making.”

Alongside rocks and minerals, pupils also looked at the different types of soil, causes of earthquakes, deadly dinosaurs and evolution.

Claire Kelly, the school’s head of science, said: “All of the pupils have really enjoyed handling the different resources and finding out that science really does rock.”