ROCKS AND MINERALS

ROCKS AND MINERALS

• A rock and a mineral are very different.
• Although rocks have minerals there is a big different between them.

ROCKS

• The Earths crust is made out of rock.
• There are three main types of rocks: sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks.
• Wind and water can break bigger rocks into tiny rocks. They can also be carried to a different place.
• The rock pieces are called sediments. After a long time it is cemented together to make a sedimentary rock.
• When magma cools it turns into a solid rock, with a large crystal inside if it is inside the earth or a small crystal if it is on the earth.
• Old rocks can be broken down by wind or rain into sediments such as, mud, sand, or gravel.

ROCK LIFE CYCLE

• The rock life cycle is very simple.
• Igneous rock can turn into a sedimentary rock or a metamorphic rock.
• Sedimentary rock can turn into igneous rock or metamorphic rock.
• Metamorphic rocks can turn into sedimentary rock or igneous rock.

WHAT IS MAGMA?

• Magma is basically lava because it pours out of a volcano. When it pours out of the volcanoes it's called lava.

HOW IGNEOUS ROCKS FORM

• Igneous rock forms when magma cools and makes crystals. It can form underground where the magma cools slowly or it can form above ground where the magma cools quickly.

MINERALS

• A mineral can be as big as a person, but most of the time they are tiny. You would need a magnifying glass to see them clearly.
• You can tell how hard it is by scratching it.
• You can scratch a soft one with a copper coin, but you would need a penknife to scratch the hard ones.

TYPES OF MINERALS

IRON PYRITE

• If you strike iron pyrite it makes sparks. The name "pyrite" comes from the Greek word "fire" because people have often mistaken for gold, it is often called fools gold.

HIMATITE

• If you scratch himatite across a white tile or another porcelain surface, you will see a bright red streak.

QUARTZ

• Quartz is the most common of the glass minerals. A single crystal of it can weigh up to 70 tons! That is more then how much a elephant weighs!

KAOLINITE

• Kaolinite feels greasy and smells like clay. People use kaolinite to make pottery.

MICA

• Sheets of mica look more like plastic then a mineral. There are two main types of mica - muscovite is a white mica, biotite is black mica.

TYPES OF ROCKS

BASALT

• Basalt started out as magma that flowed from a volcano. All ocean floors are made out of basalt, but it is less common on land.

RHYOLITE

• Like basalt, rhyolite comes from a volcano, but the magma that formed rhyolite was sticky, and did not flow. Rhyolite can be reddish brown, or pale gray, pink or yellow.

PUMICE

• When rhyolite magma has lots of gas in it it becomes pumice. Because of its bubbles in it is very light, it is the only rock that floats on water.

GRANITE

• When magma cools very slowly deep inside mountains, granite forms. Granite is a very popular building stone.

There are hundreds more different types of rocks and minerals those were just a few.

QUIZ

• Is rhyolite a rock or a mineral?
• How heavy can a quartz crystal be?
• Where do you think most rocks come from?

Resources

• Www.wikipedia.com
• Www.cotf.edu.com
• Rocks and minerals By:Dr. Paul M.A. Willis

THE END!