Geology intro html

Geology
Chimacum Middle School
6th Grade Earth Science


Science EALR
1.1 use properties to identify, describe,
and categorize substances, materials, and
objects, and use characteristics to
categorize living things.
Nature and Properties of Earth materials
BM#2 "Classify rocks and soils into groups
based on their chemical and physical properties;
describe the processes by which rocks and soils
are formed."
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Your Mission
Your company is bidding for a project with a mining company, Rock Co.
One section of the bid requires that you describe the rock cycle including the
three types of rock found on planet earth. You must be able to describe how
you can identify each type of rock as well as show how soils are formed and
classified.
You will also work as a team to create a PowerPoint presentation. The
PowerPoint presentation will show why your company should be hired on
with Rock Co.
An effective writer may consider the following points:
- name the three types of rocks
- describe and/or draw each type of rock
- name two ways each type of rock can be identified

- show how soils are formed and classified
- describe the rock cycle,
*
describe how one rock type may become another
*
explain why the rock cycle is a cycle.

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Each One’s Responsibility
●

●

●

●

One person will
become a rock
expert, including the
rock cycle.
One person will
become a mineral
expert.
One person will
become a soil expert.
All will share.
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Classifying Rocks
●

Generally, rocks
are classified
into three major
groups:
– Sedimentary
– Igneous
– Metamorphic

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How Sedimentary are Formed

You start with SEDIMENTS!
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How Igneous are Formed

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How Metamorphic are Formed

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Rocks, a Cycle?

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Minerals
A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic, homogeneous solid with a definite
chemical composition and an ordered atomic arrangement.
color---color may vary from one specimen of a mineral to another hence is
not a very reliable property to help in mineral identification
*
luster---a mineral with a metallic luster will have a black or blackish colored
powdered streak on a porcelain streak plate---that for a mineral with nonmetallic
luster will have a light colored and mostly a nonprominent streak
*
streak color---see luster above
*
hardness---a streak plate, glass, copper penny, and fingernail are hardness
tools which can be used to test mineral hardness---also a set of minerals called Moh's
relative hardness set can be used to specify more accurately the relative hardness of a
mineral
*
cleavage and fracture---the ability of a mineral to break apart in a consistent
way (cleavage) or inability of a mineral to do so (fracture or to shatter) can aid in
mineral identification
*
other special characteristics---the taste of halite (salty) and the smell of
powdered sphalerite or sulfur (rotten eggs or sulfur) on a streak plate are examples

*

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Mineral Hardness
Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness
In 1812 the Mohs scale of mineral hardness was devised by the German mineralogist
Frederich Mohs (1773-1839), who selected the ten minerals because they were common or
readily available. The scale is not a linear scale, but somewhat arbitrary.
Hardness Mineral Associations and Uses
1 Talc Talcum powder.
2 Gypsum
Plaster of paris. Gypsum is formed when seawater evaporates from the Earth’s
surface.

3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Calcite
Limestone and most shells contain calcite.
Fluorite
Fluorine in fluorite prevents tooth decay.
Apatite

When you are hungry you have a big "appetite".
Orthoclase
Orthoclase is a feldspar, and in German, "feld" means "field".
Quartz
Used for decoration in the home.
Topaz The November birthstone. Emerald and aquamarine are varieties of beryl with a hardness of 8.
Corundum
Sapphire and ruby are varieties of corundum. Twice as hard as topaz.
Diamond
Used in jewelry and cutting tools. Four times as hard as corundum.

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Soil Classification

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Bibliography
Lesson on Rocks. Volcano World.
< />s/Rocks/Rocks1.html>
Rocks (2001). Museums Teaching Planet Earth.
< />%7Edylan/mtpe/geosphere/topics/rx/rocks.html>

Mohs Scale of Hardness (10/29/00). American Federation of
Mineralogical Societies.
< />Mineral Hardness/Cleavage (9/13/00). Minerals. geollab.jmu.edu/Fichter/Minerals/hardness.html >
Twelve Soil Orders (7/5/02). University of Idaho, Soil
Science Division. < />
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