Rocks, Minerals, and Soils

-Large grains

-Large spaces between the grains

-Water leaves it quickly

-Feels gritty

What type of soil does this describe?

• clay

• sand

• humus

• silt

-small grains

-holds water easily

-sticky when wet

-clumpy when dry

What type of soil is this?

• silt

• clay

• humus

• sand

Study the table. Which white mineral could be scratched by a metal nail and might look glassy?

• calcite

• hornblende

• mica

• talc

Which soil is made of decayed parts of once living organisms? It is soft, dark, and crumbly.

• salt

• sulfur

• chlorophyll

• humus

I am observing a rock to determine if it is sedimentary or not. What characteristic would I need to look for?

• It has a shiny look.

• It has rocks cemented together.

• It has minerals lined up in bands.

• It has fossil remains of animals or plants in it.

Which type of rock does this describe?

-once another type of rock

-created by heat and pressure under the earth

-can have stripes because minerals can be lined up in rows or bands

• metamorphic

• crystal

• sedimentary

• igneous

What type of rock does this describe?

-could have formed inside the earth from cooled and hardened molten rock

-could have formed from a volcanic eruption and lava cooled and hardened

• sedimentary

• metamorphic

• igneous

• crystal

Heat and pressure deep inside the earth can change limestone to marble. What type of rock does this describe?

• metamorphic

• sedimentary

• igneous

• crystal

-tiny bits of rock are pressed together to create layers

-often found at the bottom of bodies of water like lakes

What kind of rock is formed this way?

• metamorphic

• crystal

• sedimentary

• igneous

Solid, non-living substances called _____ are found in rocks and soils.

• lava

• minerals

• igneous

• magma