Properties of rocks and minerals

The way some minerals naturally

break into smaller pieces.

• Cleavage

• Mohs Scale

• Luster

• Minerals

It blocks light completely, casting a

dark shadow.

• Opaque

• Rock

• Minerals

• Transparent

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-2

Light will be able to go through the

rock but you won’t be able see

through it clearly, like frosted glass.

• Translucent

• Hardness

• Rock

• Rock

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-2

You can look through the rock and

see details of an object behind it,

like through a window glass.

• Transparent

• Mohs Scale

• Minerals

• Opaque

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-2

Whether a rock or mineral is shiny,

glassy, metallic or dull.

• Luster

• Rock

• Mohs Scale

• Texture

A scale that measures hardness

and can be used to help identify

minerals.

• Mohs Scale

• Transparent

• Translucent

• Opaque

A basic building block of all rocks,

made up of one or more chemicals

and is chemically the same all over

the earth.

• Minerals

• Transparent

• Cleavage

• Luster

A hard, solid part of the Earth’s

surface. Most are made of

combinations of minerals.

• Rock

• Mrs. Pizza

• Opaque

• Texture

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

The resistance of a rock to being

scratched.

• Hardness

• Mrs. Tracy

• Translucent

• Mohs Scale

To a geologist, this refers to the size

of the pieces that make up the rock

or mineral. A rock could have a

coarse, medium, or fine ________.

• Texture

• Rock

• Mohs Scale

• Buster