pickaxe
You are in a dark cave. You see a block with blue spots. You use a pickaxe to smash the block.
Bam! You just got a Minecraft diamond!
Illustrations by Jeff Mangiat; Shutterstock.com (Minecraft Gems); iStockPhoto/Getty Images (Digger, Blue Topaz); JohnnyGreig/Alamy Stock Photo (Child); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)
Dig Into Minecraft Gems and Real Gems
Have you ever seen a diamond? Have you seen
a ruby? They are gems. Gems sparkle! They are hard to find! Are Minecraft gems the same?
By Molly Bradley
From the December 2025/January 2026 Issue
Learning Objective: Students will compare and contrast Minecraft gems and real gems.
Minecraft Gems
Get the Gems
So Many Gems
(from upper-left) diamond, amethyst, lapis lazuli, ender pearls
Ender pearls are only in Minecraft.
You can mine other gems too. They come in all kinds of colors.
There are a lot of gems that you can find only in Minecraft, not in real life.
Use Those Gems!
(left) diamond armor
You can use some Minecraft gems to buy things. You can use diamonds to make armor. Armor can protect you from zombies!
Real Gems
Get the Gems
First, you need a digger truck. You dig a big hole in the ground. Then you blast rocks apart.
BLAMMO! Now you have real diamonds!
So Many Gems
(from upper-left) diamond, amethyst, lapis lazuli, blue topaz
Blue topaz gems are not in Minecraft.
You can mine other gems the same way. Real gems can be green, blue, and other colors.
There are a lot of gems you can find only in real life.
Use Those Gems!
Bling bling!
You can use gems to make pretty jewelry. Diamonds are more than just pretty. They are so strong, they can cut through rock.
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Activities
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Skills Activities
Answer Key
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More About the Article
English Language Arts Focus
Compare and contrast
Science Focus
Earth science
Social Studies Focus
Pop culture/technology
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Implementation
- Whole group
Pairings and Text Connections
- From the Storyworks 1 archive: “Alike and Different: Is This a Real-Life Pokemon?” (March/April 2025)
- Suggested books: Diary of a Minecraft Wolf: Player Attack by Winston Wolf; Secret Builder’s Guide: Minecraft Villages; National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Rocks, Minerals & Shells by Moira Rose Donohue
Before-Reading Resources
- Vocabulary slideshow (5 minutes) pickaxe, mine, armor, digger
- Video: Skill Power: Compare and Contrast (5 minutes) A fun how-to video on how and why we compare and contrast
Suggested Reading Focus
Compare and contrast (20 minutes)
- Ask students if they have ever played the video game Minecraft. Ask what they know about gems in the game. Then say that gems aren’t just a part of Minecraft—they exist in real life too!
- Tell students they will be reading texts about Minecraft gems and real gems. Say that as they read, they should think about how these two types of gems are alike and different.
- Preview the parallel structure of the texts. What do children notice about these two pages? (They are set up similarly. Each section has a heading. All the headings are the same.)
- Read “Minecraft Gems,” and stop at the end of each section to check comprehension. Then read “Real Gems,” again stopping at the end of each section to check comprehension.
- For the second read-through, review the texts under the same headings back-to-back so children can focus on comparing and contrasting. Then discuss what was learned from each section.
- Compare the photos. What did students learn from them?
- To close, ask students to turn and talk about ways Minecraft gems and real gems are alike and different.
After-Reading Skills Practice
- Skills: compare and contrast (15 minutes)
Text-to-Speech