MINERALS, ROCKS, AND SOIL

Transcription

1 MINERALS, ROCKS, AND SOIL UNIT OVERVIEW Earth is made up various livig ad olivig materials. I the Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil uit, studets lear about the properties, classificatio, ad uses for may olivig Earth materials. Elemets form mierals, ad mierals form rocks. Differet rock types igeous, sedimetary, ad metamorphic ca trasform through the rock cycle. Through the processes of weatherig ad erosio, rocks chage, break, ad move. Mierals mix with orgaic material to form the soil o which plats ad aimals rely. People use Earth resources by miig, drillig, ad refiig raw materials ad have become depedet o them for may purposes. Certai readig resources are provided at three readig levels withi the uit to support differetiated istructio. Other resources are provided as a set, with differet titles offered at each readig level. Dots o studet resources idicate the readig level as follows: low readig level middle readig level high readig level THE BIG IDEA Mierals, rocks, ad soil alog with air, sulight, ad water are the olivig portios of Earth s ecosystems. The iteractio of livig ad olivig compoets defies a ecosystem ad allows for great biodiversity. By learig about mierals, rocks, ad soil, studets will come to uderstad the processes by which they are formed, how they chage through time, ad their importace to Earth ad its ihabitats. Nutriet-rich soil is home to may orgaisms ad provides the foudatio for much of the life o Earth. Humas have come to rely o Earth s resources for may purposes, icludig buildig materials, electroic compoets, household items, car parts, cosmetics, ad eergy sources. While seemigly abudat, Earth s resources are limited ad must be preserved for future geeratios. Other topics This uit also addresses topics such as: miig, moo rocks, fossils, quicksad, ad special uses of mierals, icludig gold. SPARK The spark is desiged to get studets thikig about the uit s topics ad to geerate curiosity ad discussio. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 1

2 Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil Materials cupful of playgroud sad had les paper plate strog maget Activity Place studets i pairs or small groups. Have them pour a cupful of playgroud sad oto a paper plate. Ask studets to examie the sad usig a had les ad to discuss their observatios with their parter. Ecourage them to describe the sad i as may ways as they ca, icludig how it feels. Studets may also ru the maget through the sad ad observe whether aythig withi the sad is attracted to it. Ivite a voluteer from each group to share observatios with the class. Below are questios to spark discussio. What is sad? Where does sad come from? Do all grais of sad look the same? Why do you thik this is so? Why are some grais of sad smaller tha others? Did the maget pick up aythig from the sad? Why do you thik this is so? Where are you most likely to fid sad i ature? Why? Use this activity to begi a itroductory discussio about mierals, rocks, ad soil. Explai that sad is a Earth resource that results from the breakig dow of rocks. Over time, large rocks are broke dow ito smaller ad smaller pieces, evetually formig sad ad soil. Sad also cotais mierals, sometimes icludig oe called magetite. This mieral is highly magetic ad therefore is attracted to a maget. Throughout the uit, studets will lear more about mierals, rocks, ad soil. May of the uit s vocabulary terms are related to the spark activity ad ca be itroduced durig the spark. For vocabulary work, see the Vocabulary sectio i this Uit Guide. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Ivite studets to explai their uderstadig of what mierals, rocks, ad soil each are. Ask them to explai how all three are related, if at all. Probig Questios to Thik About Use the followig questios to have studets begi thikig of what they kow about mierals, rocks, ad soil. What is the differece betwee a rock ad a mieral? What are rocks ad mierals made of? Are all rocks the same? How do they differ? Learig A Z All rights reserved. 2

3 Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil (ou) Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil (ou) Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil WORD CARD WORD CARD (ou) WORD CARD Cut or Fold Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil DEFINITION CARD DEFINITION CARD DEFINITION CARD Learig A Z All rights reserved. UNIT GUIDE Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil Why are there so may differet sizes of rocks? Why are oly some rocks worth a lot of moey? Is soil the same wherever you go? Why or why ot? What do a moutai ad a pebble have i commo? Ca weather affect the lad? If so, how? Are mierals, rocks, ad soil importat for plats ad aimals? Explai. How do people use mierals, rocks, ad soil? Tell studets they will lear more about these topics soo. UNIT MATERIALS Each uit provides a wide variety of resources related to the uit topic. Studets may read books ad other passages, work i groups to complete hads-o experimets ad ivestigatios, discuss sciece ideas as a class, watch videos, complete writig tasks, ad take assessmets. Resources are available for pritig or projectig, ad may studet resources are also available for studets to access digitally o. Selected uit resources are available i more tha oe laguage. For a complete list of materials provided with the uit, see the Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil uit page o the Sciece A Z website. VOCABULARY $ $ alloy bedrock crystal a metal that is a combiatio of two or more metals, ofte makig the metal stroger the solid rock udereath soil or loose rocks; the lowest of three mai layers of soil a mieral that forms i regular, tight patters Use the terms below for vocabulary developmet throughout the uit. They ca be foud i boldface i the Nofictio Book, the Quick Reads, ad/or other uit resources. These terms ad defiitios are available o Vocabulary Cards for studet practice. Additioal vocabulary lists are provided i the teachig tips for Ivestigatio Packs ad FOCUS Books. Core Sciece Terms These terms are crucial to uderstadig the uit. crystal deposit elemets erosio fossil igeous rock a mieral that forms i regular, tight patters to set dow oe or more layers of material i a ew place, as water or wid ca do to sedimet pure substaces; the buildig blocks of everythig o Earth the process of trasportig ad wearig away rocks or soil as loose particles are moved by water, wid, ice, or gravity the remais of a plat or aimal that tured to stoe over a log period of time rock formed by the coolig ad hardeig of hot magma or lava Learig A Z All rights reserved. 3

4 Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil metal metamorphic rock mieral resources rock rock cycle sedimetary rock soil weatherig a material, usually hard ad shiy, that allows electricity ad heat to move through it rock formed whe ay type of rock goes through chages caused by extreme heat ad pressure a solid, atural material that does ot come from a livig thig supplies of thigs that are valuable or very useful to people a hard, solid material that is made of mierals ad is foud i ature the series of chages that rock udergoes as it shifts betwee differet types rock formed whe sedimet is pressed together over time the top layer of the groud, i which plats grow; dirt the process of wearig away or otherwise chagig Earth s surface, caused by atural forces Other Key Sciece Terms The followig vocabulary is ot essetial for comprehedig the uit but may erich studets vocabulary. alloy bedrock drill eergy resources humus iorgaic lava magma matter mie ore a metal that is a combiatio of two or more metals, ofte makig the metal stroger the solid rock udereath soil or loose rocks; the lowest of three mai layers of soil to use a tool to make a hole, such as to get materials from udergroud supplies of materials that ca be used by people to do work ad to supply power the orgaic compoet of soil that is composed of plat decay ot havig to do with or comig from livig orgaisms melted, liquid rock that reaches Earth s surface melted, liquid rock beeath Earth s surface aythig that takes up space ad has weight to take mierals from the groud by diggig or blastig a rock that has useful metals or other mierals iside it Learig A Z All rights reserved. 4

5 UNIT GUIDE Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil orgaic process raw material refie subsoil topsoil havig to do with or comig from livig orgaisms to cause somethig to go through steps that will chage or improve it a substace i its atural form to remove uwated materials from a substace the middle layer of soil, which cotais more rocks tha topsoil the top layer of soil, i which most plats have their roots Name Date Learig A Z All rights reserved. MINERALS, ROCKS, AND SOIL Word Search Directios: Below are defiitios of vocabulary terms. Figure out each term ad the fid ad circle it i the puzzle. Words may appear horizotally, vertically, or diagoally. L S T O L N D M P W Q H E F I D E R S G N L K L K C M G K K F M G F L L W E R G Y C K X I A V R E Z O H K Z T F F O N S S L M B W S O T O Y Y B V F A W E R O S I O N B E Z S G U T I S O P E D S L N T H E I E S V J O Y R T I M T Z A T I E N M X D L S T J M F C E S T D W A M P A M I N E R A L B O V K M C J K T K S L E C E E S U T K I I K H O I M S Z C P I C H W N T J K J A L P Q M R N K E O T S I M R E T A J R R N L U E Y S A H R E S O U R C E S P K J W K Q V N J Y T B T U H I E W V S I L S I M R B A 1. a mieral that forms i regular, tight patters 2. to set dow oe or more layers of material i a ew place, as water or wid ca do to sedimet 3. pure substaces; the buildig blocks of everythig o Earth 4. the process of trasportig ad wearig away rocks or soil as loose particles are moved by water, wid, ice, or gravity 5. the remais of a plat or aimal that tured to stoe over a log period of time MINERALS, ROCKS, AND SOIL Fill i the Blak Name Date Directios: Fill i each blak with the correct vocabulary term from the list. Use each term oce. deposit igeous mierals rocks sedimetary erosio metamorphic resources rock cycle weatherig O Friday, my class wet o a field trip to a local park. We looked at the differet rocks ad foud i the area. My teacher said there are may kids of rocks. Most of the rocks at the park were rocks, so they were easy to break apart. These rocks are made whe wid ad water mierals i layers. Over time, these layers press together to form rocks. Wid ad water also cause rocks to chage shape or size, which is a process called. We saw a example of this at the park. A tree root had grow i a rock ad cracked it. This is differet from, which moves rocks ad soil to a ew place. We also leared about other rocks. Oe type was called. These rocks form whe hot magma or lava cools. The last type of rock we leared about was. These rocks started out as oe of the other rock types but chaged whe they experieced extreme heat ad pressure. The marble statue i the park was a example of this type of rock. 6. a material, usually hard ad shiy, that allows electricity ad heat to move through it 7. a solid, atural material that does ot come from a livig thig 8. supplies of thigs that are valuable or very useful to people 9. a hard, solid material that is made of mierals ad is foud i ature 10. the top layer of the groud, i which plats grow; dirt Name Date All rocks ca go through the as they chage from oe type of rock to aother. We leared a lot about rocks, ad that it is importat to use Earth s atural wisely, because some of them are i limited supply. Mierals ad are importat for the way we live ad play. I thought this trip rocked! 2 Learig A Z All rights reserved Credit: Sarawut Padugkwa/123RF Learig A Z All rights reserved. MINERALS, ROCKS, AND SOIL Uscramble Directios: To aswer the riddle, uscramble each word ad write i the squares. The write the circled letters i order o the umbered spaces below. 1 ycrtsla 3 6 a mieral that forms i regular, tight patters 10 2 topdsei to set dow oe or more layers of material i a ew place, as water or wid ca do to sedimet lisofs 1 8 the remais of a plat or aimal that tured to stoe over a log period of time osuegi kcro 4 5 rock formed by the coolig ad hardeig of hot magma or lava theawgire the process of wearig away or otherwise chagig Earth s surface, caused by atural forces 9 7 Riddle: Why did the sedimetary rock feel isulted? Aswer: Because people took it Vocabulary Activities You may choose to itroduce all the terms that will be ecoutered i the uit before assigig ay of the readig compoets. Vocabulary Cards with the key sciece terms ad defiitios are provided. Dots o the cards idicate the readig levels of the Nofictio Book or the Quick Reads i which each term ca be foud. If all level dots appear, the term may come from aother resource i the uit. Studets ca use these cards to review ad practice the terms i small groups or pairs. The cards ca also be used for ceter activity games such as Cocetratio. The Word Work activity sheets offer fu puzzles ad practice with key vocabulary terms from the uit. For further vocabulary practice ad reiforcemet, you ca choose from the vocabulary Graphic Orgaizers. To build customized vocabulary lessos with terms related to the topic, see. Studets ca use the Word Smart vocabulary Graphic Orgaizer to orgaize iformatio o the sciece terms. You may wat to assig each studet oe to three words to share his or her Word Smart kowledge with classmates. Studets who have the same word should first compare their Word Smart sheets with each other ad the report to the larger group. The sciece terms ca be used i oral practice. Have studets use each term i a spoke setece. As studets read, ecourage them to create a sciece dictioary by recordig ew vocabulary terms ad defiitios i their SAZ Joural. 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6 A Sciece A Z Earth Series Word Cout: 1,748 Visit Writte by Rachel Kamb UNIT GUIDE BACKGROUND ad MISCONCEPTIONS Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil Use this sectio as a resource for more backgroud kowledge o uit cotet ad to clarify the cotet for studets if miscoceptios arise. Refer to Usig the Iteret below for more ways to exted the learig. Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil Q: Are rocks ad mierals the same thigs? A: No. Mierals are made from idividual elemets or combiatios of elemets. Almost all rocks are made up of mierals (some cotai orgaic material), ad they usually cotai more tha oe type of mieral. A rock s uique compositio ad the process by which it is formed determie its type. Q: Ca people make rocks ad mierals? A: No, ot i the scietific sese. Rocks ad mierals are atural, limited Earth resources. They are formed over millios of years through atural processes. While compaies may sell sythetic stoe products, these are ot true rocks. Q: Do rocks last forever? A: Yes ad o. While they seem hard ad uyieldig, rocks chage ad break dow over time through the processes of weatherig ad erosio. Eve large moutais are evetually weathered away. However, the material that makes up rocks is ever lost. Small parts or particles of rocks ca udergo chages through the rock cycle, ad form ew rocks. Q: Rocks seem very strog. Ca wid, water, ad ice really break them ad wear them dow? A: Absolutely! Wid, water, ad ice are erosioal forces that ca have a dramatic effect o rocks ad soil, particularly over great expases of time. Eve miute, imperceptible chages ca become eormous chages whe they cotiue over millios of years. Weatherig, erosio, ad depositio are forces that costatly chage ad reshape Earth s surface. Q: Oce a rock is made, ca it ever chage? A: Yes. Through the rock cycle, each of the major rock groups igeous, sedimetary, ad metamorphic ca be trasformed ito ay other type. Sedimets from the weatherig of ay of these three kids of rock ca be compressed to form sedimetary rocks. Igeous rock is made from magma that oce might have bee ay of the three rock types. Fially, both sedimetary ad igeous rocks ca be trasformed ito metamorphic rock, ad existig metamorphic rock ca udergo further chages whe exposed to itese heat ad pressure uder Earth s surface. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 6

7 Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil Q: Are rocks always heavy ad hard to break? A: No. A small piece of rock will weigh less tha a larger piece of rock of the same type. A rock s characteristics deped o the mierals that make it up ad how the rock was formed. For example, a rock may cotai quartz crystals, which are very hard, while calcite or mica i the same rock may be softer ad easy to scratch or peel away. Some rocks, such as pumice, are very light ad ca ofte float o water. Pumice is made whe frothy lava cools quickly o Earth s surface. Rocks that are formed below the groud uder high pressure ad heat, such as marble, are very dese ad heavy. Q: Does soil tur ito rock, or does rock tur ito soil? A: Both processes occur as part of the rock cycle. Weatherig causes large rocks to break apart ito smaller ad smaller pieces that evetually become sedimet ad part of soil. Erosio moves rocks ad soil to areas where layers of sedimet build up. Whe these layers of sedimet are subjected to pressure over a log period of time, sedimetary rock forms. Q: Rocks ad mierals may look pretty, but are they actually importat? A: Yes, they are. Rocks, mierals, ad soil are extremely importat to all plats ad aimals, icludig humas. Plats ad some aimals live ad grow i soil ad deped upo mierals i the soil for growth ad developmet. May aimals, icludig humas, eat plats that have grow i soil. Humas also rely o rocks, mierals, ad soil for may thigs. Almost every product i your daily life requires some kid of mied mieral. For example, alumium is used to make bicycles, fluorite is used to make the fluoride foud i toothpaste, iro ad steel are used to make pots ad pas used for cookig, clay is used i floor tiles, ad so o. Q: So what is everythig made of elemets or atoms? A: Both! For all itets ad purposes, elemets are the buildig blocks of all matter, both livig ad olivig. Elemets are basic substaces that combie (i compouds) to make up all matter. Each elemet is made of oly oe kid of atom ad caot be broke dow ito other substaces. Each atom of a particular elemet has a specific combiatio of subatomic particles that distiguishes it from atoms of ay other elemet. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 7

8 Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil Jupiterimages Corporatio EXTENSION ACTIVITIES Usig the Iteret Most search egies will yield may results whe the term mierals, rocks, or soil is etered. You ca also perform a more specific search, such as how igeous rock forms. Be aware that some sites may ot be educatioal or iteded for the elemetary classroom. More specific iquiries are recommeded, such as: geology for kids rocks ad mierals of Miesota soil compositio diagram iteractive rock cycle mieral idetificatio weatherig vs. erosio careers i geoscieces local gem ad mieral museums Below are some liks with excellet resources for studets ad/or teachers. The chemistry departmet at the Uiversity of Nottigham provides iformative videos related to elemets, called the Periodic Table of Videos. Click o a elemet s symbol to access a video explaiig the properties ad uses of that elemet. Uder Photos, the site offers a poster with scaable QR codes; dowload the image for quick access to these award-wiig videos. Mieralogy4Kids is a website for childre. Follow the Rock Cycle lik for a excellet explaatio of this process. Follow the Mierals i Your House lik to lear which mierals are used for everyday items. This site also icludes a Ask a Mieralogist feature, i which studets ca submit questios to be aswered by a expert. KidsGeo allows childre to choose chapters for topics they would like to lear more about. Follow the Geology Olie lik for educatioal chapters or the Geology Games lik to play a fu Rock Types game. This site, published by the Uited States Geological Survey, cotais useful iformatio about rocks ad mierals for both teachers ad studets. Use the visual glossary lik to look up geology terms ad follow liks for more i-depth iformatio. Lear about the geology of Bryce Cayo ad may other atioal parks that have amazig geologic features o this website published by the Natioal Park Service. Studets ca become a official Geodetective ad receive a free patch from the Park Service by learig three ew thigs about geology. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 8

9 Mierals, Rocks, ad Soil Projects ad Activities Field Trip: Brig studets to a rock museum, mieral museum, or sciece ceter that has a extesive rock collectio. Have studets keep a sciece joural to record drawigs ad observatios of all their favorite specimes. Project: Have studets survey the classroom lookig for items that cotai rocks ad mierals. Studets might be surprised to fid that most thigs cotai some form of olivig Earth resource. Several websites, such as: explai commo uses of mierals. Arts/Project: Have studets make a paperweight by decoratig a rock foud i their eighborhood. Project/Home Coectio: Have studets collect rocks aroud their home ad eighborhood. Challege them to build a orgaized rock collectio by sortig ad idetifyig rocks. Research: Ask each studet to brig i oe iterestig rock. Usig a rock ad mieral guide, help studets idetify each rock ad its mieral compositio. Create a labeled class collectio. Writig: Ivite studets to write a first-perso arrative from the perspective of a rock goig through the rock cycle. Istruct them to describe at least two trasitios or chages that occurred durig the life of the rock. For extesive writig istructio, icludig how to write a persoal arrative, see. Guest: Ivite a geologist or a mieralogist to the classroom to explai the distictio betwee mierals ad rocks, ad to put ito perspective the passage of geologic time. Techology: Have studets coduct a supervised Iteret search to fid out what olivig materials are i familiar objects, such as cell phoes or teis rackets. Commuity Service/Field Trip: Brig studets to a local atural or developed area to search for examples of huma-caused erosio. For example, clear-cuttig a forest hillside may cause soil erosio with the ext heavy raifall. Ruoff from a parkig lot may be erodig earby soil. Braistorm ways i which studets ca slow harmful erosio i their commuity. Research/Home Coectio: Studets ca coduct research as a family/home project or i the library/ media ceter to exted the learig about a topic i oe of the Quick Reads or other uit resources. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 9