minerals and rocks

2. In the margin of your paper, make
a list of all the different colors of
rocks you’ve ever seen.
Share your list with a partner and
compare which colors are on both
your lists.

3. 1. Nonliving, natural substances
that make up rock are called
minerals.

4. There are more than 3,000 kinds
of minerals with different
properties. A property is a
characteristic that describes
something.

5. 2. Minerals can
be identified by
their properties:
color, hardness,
luster, and
streak.

6. COLOR
Minerals can be many different
colors or the same color.

7. HARDNESS
Hardness refers to a mineral’s
ability to scratch another mineral
or be scratched by another
mineral. Each mineral is
numbered one to ten.
Mohs’ Hardness Scale

8. LUSTER
Luster refers to the way light
bounces off the surface of a
mineral. Minerals may be
metallic (shiny), dull, glossy, or
pearly in luster.

9. STREAK
A mineral’s streak is the color of
the powder left behind when it is
scratched on a white tile.

10. 3. Minerals are the building
blocks of rocks.

11. 4. Minerals offer clues about how
a rock forms.

12. The three main types of rocks are
igneous, sedimentary, and
metamorphic.

13. 5. A rock that forms from melted
rock is igneous rock.

14. 6. Melted rock, called magma,
cools and hardens to form
igneous rock.

15. 7. Igneous rocks are classified by
how quickly they cool and the size
of the mineral grains that form.

16. 8. Layers of substances are pressed
and cemented together to form
sedimentary rock.

17. 9. Scientists compare the position
of layered rocks to find a rock’s
relative age.

18. 10. A rock layer and any fossils in
that rock have the same relative
age.

19. 11. Heat and pressure form
metamorphic rock.

20. 12. Metamorphic rocks can form
from igneous and sedimentary
rocks, or from other metamorphic
rocks.

21. 13. Metamorphic rocks are
different than their original form
because their properties change.

22. 14. Rocks change from one form
to another in the rock cycle.

24. 15. People use rocks and
minerals as resources.

25. 16. Rocks and minerals are used
for building schools and other
structures, and to make steel,
aluminum products, silicon
chips, and jewelry.

26. Which type of rock (metamorphic,
sedimentary, or igneous) do you
think is most useful?

27. Sedimentary rocks are the most
useful. They can be used to
make glass, bricks, china,
pottery, chalk, and building
blocks.