Cynthia Light Brown - Rocks and Minerals!: With 25 Science Projects for Kids

Titles in the Explore Earth Science Set

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IGNEOUS ROCKS

About 95 percent of the top layer of the earths crust is made of igneous rock.

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

The sediment in sedimentary rock can include minerals, small pieces of plants, and other organic matter.

METAMORPHIC ROCKS

Metamorphic rocks are formed with heat and pressure as many millions of years pass by.

PUMICE

Many pumice rocks can float until they become too waterlogged and sink! Pumice is an igneous rock.

LIMESTONE

Most limestones form in clear, shallow, warm seawater. They are a sedimentary rock.

MARBLE

Marble is a metaphoric rock that often has gems such as rubies inside of it.

Did you know that rocks and minerals are part of your life, every second of every minute of every day? Sound surprising? You stand on rocks, you consume rocks, and your home is built from rocks and powered by rocks. You even have rocks in the form of minerals inside you!

Those are some pretty good reasons to learn more about rocks and minerals. But the best reason of all is that rocks and minerals are fascinating. Rocks can slowly form during the course of millions and millions of years or be blasted from a volcano in an instant.

WORDS TO KNOW

rock: a solid, natural substance made up of minerals.

mineral: a naturally occurring solid found in rocks and in the ground. Rocks are made of minerals. Gold and diamonds are precious minerals.

Here are some places to find rocks and minerals.

* Electricity runs through copper and aluminum wires, which are made from minerals.

* Steel, made from the mineral iron, is used in the construction of buildings and vehicles.

* Houses contain nails, bricks, and plaster, which all come from rocks.

* Salt for seasoning food is a mineral.

* Plants grow in soil, which forms from rocks.

* Your bones are made mostly of a mineral called apatite.

* The earth itself is one big ball of rocks!

SCIENTISTS STUDY ROCKS FROM MOUNTAIN PEAKS TO UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH.

Rocks are like puzzles that can tell us about the earths history. Right where youre standing, there might have once been an ocean. Maybe there was a volcano or even a huge mountain chain as big as the Himalayas . The rocks found below your feet can give you clues about the past.

WORDS TO KNOW

Himalayas: a mountain chain between India and Tibet. It contains the worlds highest mountain, Mount Everest, which is 29,029 feet above sea level.

crust: the thin, outer layer of the earth.

mantle: the middle layer of the earth between the crust and the core.

core: the center of the earth, composed of the metals iron and nickel. The core has a solid inner core and a liquid outer core.

THE BIGGEST ROCK OF ALL

You dont have to go far to study a really big rock. Just look down! The planet we live on is a really large rock made up of lots of smaller rocks. Lets take a look at the structure of the earth.

No one has traveled to the center of the earth, but we know some things about whats inside. We know that the planet is made of layers that have different kinds of rocks. The three major layers are the crust on the outside, the mantle in the middle, and the core at the center.

WORDS TO KNOW

pressure: a continuous force that pushes on an object.

continent: one of the earths large landmasses, including Africa, Antarctica, Australia, North America, South America, and Asia and Europe.

These layers probably formed as the earth itself was forming. We know that it gets hotter toward the center and there is a lot more pressure there. This makes sense, because there is always more pressure when there is more force pushing on something.

If you lie down on the floor and two friends lie on top of you, you will feel pressure from their weight. You might also feel hotter after a while, because pressure makes temperatures increase. The same is true for rocks closer to the center of the earth. They feel a LOT more pressure because of the weight of the rocks on them. They also have higher temperatures!

If you could travel to the center of the earth, what would you see? Lets take a look!

DID YOU KNOW?

Ask an adult to hard boil an egg. Break the egg open. The shell of the egg compared to the whole egg is about as thick as the crust is to the whole earth. The white of the egg is like the mantle and the yellow yolk is like the earths core.

START AT THE CRUST

On your imaginary trip, you would start at the crust, which is the thin, hard, outer layer of the earth. If you were standing on a continent , you would have to tunnel through crust anywhere from 16 to 56 miles thick. That may sound like a lot, but its really not very much compared to the rest of the earth.