Drawing Conclusions

Crayon Rock Cycle Experiment

So Many Charts About Rocks

This chart can also help in identification of rock types.  There is also the one proved in the ESRT.

That’s Some Gneiss Schist Right There

Rocks and Process of the Rock Cycle Interactive Model

Pick a Rock! Any Rock!

Now that we have made it half way through our Rocks Unit in Class, go home and find a rock in your yard or neighborhood and bring it to class.

From what we have learned in class and posts on the blog, what kind of rock do you think it is How did you identify it?

Happy Rock Hunting!

Fun Fact!

Coal makes for some pretty horrible diamonds.  While we have been told for many years that diamonds come from coal, coal is made of a big mix of organic materials.  That means it is almost never pure carbon, which makes a pure diamond.

In the end, coal under great pressure and heat, can make a diamond, but it would have a lot of impurities.  Thus, making a very cheap quality diamond.

Main Groups of Rock Identification

Igneous- rocks formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.

• More About Igneous Rocks Here

Metamorphic- rocks formed when the minerals in an existing rock are changed by heat or pressure below the surface.

• More About Metamorphic Rocks Here

Sedimentary- rocks formed through the deposition and solidification of sediment,especially sediment that have been weathered or eroded and transported by water, ice, and wind. Sedimentary rocks are often deposited in layers, and frequently contain fossils.

• More About Sedimentary Rocks Here

Texture is Key!

A second component to identification is texture.

Texture describes the size, shape, and arrangement of mineral grains and is a reflection of how the rock formed.