The purpose of this study is to analyze the problems of rock specimens used for science education in elementary schools and to provide improvements of them. For the study, 20 sets of rock specimens were randomly selected from the five elementary schools in K city of Gyeongbuk Province and they were photographed and investigated. Also three elementary school teachers with more than 5 years of scientific career were interviewed. As a result, the sets of rock specimens that reflected the elementary curriculum were only 10%. The sets of rock specimens had many problems as follows: they were purchased a long time ago (up to 30 years), information presented in the nameplate and documentation was errorneous, some of rock specimens were too small and they did not show typical characteristics for education. In addition, the purchase and verification procedures of rock specimens were often neglected. With lack of interest and knowledge of teachers and lack of information about rock specimens, it was difficult to purchase good rock specimens for education. To improve the situation, a set of rock specimens should be verified by experts and should reflect the contents of curriculum and textbooks thoroughly. A manual of rock specimens is provided for science education in elementary schools.