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Worksheets

Rocks and Minerals

Total questions: 20

Worksheet time: 10mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Why is color alone unable to identify a unknown mineral?

a)

A. Many minerals have the same color.

b)

B. Specific minerals change colors when cleaved.

c)

C. Certain levels of hardness have specific colors.

d)

Minerals change colors when exposed to light.

2.

How can you determine the color of the streak in the rock sample?

a)

A. use a rock with the known mineral to strike the sample .

b)

B. rub the sample on a piece of unglazed clay tile

c)

C. use a file to break off a piece of the sample

d)

D. scratch the sample with an iron nail

3.

Luke and Lilly have gathered a collection of rock samples from the school yard to study. They scraped the rocks against a their fingernail and a penny. Which property of minerals are the students investigating?

a)

A. Texture

b)

B. Color

c)

C. Hardness

d)

D. Streak

4.

Students observed that a diamond was able to scratch a piece of talc. What does this observation BEST support?

a)

A. Diamonds have sharp edges.

b)

B. Talc is softer than diamonds.

c)

C. Diamonds are very valuable.

d)

D. Talc and diamonds are both minerals

5.

Which property is the MOST reliable for identifying one mineral from another?

a)

A. texture

b)

B. hardness

c)

C. crystal shape

d)

D. surface color

6.

How could you BEST find out the cleavage pattern of a sample of rock?

a)

A. shining a light on the mineral.

b)

B. soaking the mineral in water.

c)

C. rubbing a penny against the mineral.

d)

D. breaking off a piece of the mineral.

7.

Betty is trying to determine if a mineral is metallic or non-metallic. Which two mineral identification tests should Betty use?

a)

A. color and streak

b)

B. luster and streak

c)

C. cleavage and color

d)

D. hardness and cleavage

8.

A geologist studies a mineral and observes that it breaks into thin sheets. What physical property is the geologist using to identify the mineral?

a)

A. hardness

b)

B. cleavage

c)

C. luster

d)

D. streak

9.

What is the reason for a streak test?

a)

A. to determine the color of a mineral in powdered form

b)

B. to determine the way minerals scratch each other

c)

C. to determine the many types of minerals found in a rock

d)

D. to determine the number of planes present when a mineral is broken

10.

How would you determine a mineral′s luster?

a)

A. by heating the mineral

b)

B. by breaking the mineral

c)

C. by reflecting light off the mineral

d)

D. by observing the color of the mineral

11.

Evidence of organisms that lived on Earth a long time ago would MOST likely be found in....

a)

A. crystals.

b)

B. lava.

c)

C. sedimentary rock.

d)

D. metamorphic rock.

12.

Which best explains what happens when metamorphic rocks are broken down and those sediments are washed away and later form new rocks?

a)

A. the rock cycle

b)

B. the water cycle

c)

C. the sediment cycle

d)

D. the metamorphic cycle

13.

Heat and pressure were applied to a rock that was originally formed by a volcanic eruption. Which best describes the type of change that occurred?

a)

A. metamorphic to sedimentary

b)

B. sedimentary to metamorphic

c)

C. metamorphic to igneous

d)

D. igneous to metamorphic

14.

Minerals are formed by which process?

a)

A. magma cooling

b)

B. fault lines moving

c)

C. metamorphosis

d)

D. sedimentation

15.

How are rocks classified?

a)

A. by their color

b)

B. by their shape

c)

C. by the area in which they are found

d)

D. by the processes by which they form

16.

Which process in the rock cycle is unique to metamorphic rock?

a)

A. Metamorphic rock is formed by the cooling of heated magma.

b)

B. Metamorphic rock is formed when layers of sediment are compacted over time.

c)

C. Metamorphic rock is formed when intense heat and pressure are applied to rocks.

d)

D. Metamorphic rock is formed when igneous rock is eroded by the wind and water over time.

17.

Which type of rock forms by weathering?

a)

A. igneous rock

b)

B. extrusive rock

c)

C. sedimentary rock

d)

D. metamorphic rock

18.

How is sedimentary rock formed?

a)

A. compaction → erosion → weathering → deposition

b)

B. deposition → weathering → compaction → erosion

c)

C. erosion → deposition → weathering → compaction

d)

D. weathering → erosion → deposition → compaction

19.

What happens when sedimentary rock undergoes heat and pressure without melting?

a)

A. It becomes a fossil.

b)

B. It becomes lava rock.

c)

C. It becomes igneous rock.

d)

D. It becomes metamorphic rock.

20.

Where would igneous rock most likely be found?

a)

A. by the ocean

b)

B. near a volcano

c)

C. deep in the earth

d)

D. at the bottom of a river