Types of Rocks
What are the 3 main types of rocks?
Igneous, Sedimentary & Metamorphic
What is the part of Earth that we live on called?
The crust.
What are tectonic plates?
Massive, irregularly shaped slabs of solid rock, composed of Earth’s lithosphere (crust and upper mantle), that fit together like a puzzle.
What is an earthquake?
A sudden and violent shaking of the Earth’s surface caused by moving plates below the Earth’s surface.
How are Igneous rocks formed?
They are formed by the cooling and hardening of magma.
Why is the Earth's mantle compared to a peanut butter sandwich?
It contains layers of solid rock with heated flowing rock between them.
What is the Theory of Pangea?
The continents used to be all connected into one giant continent. They moved apart slowly over time because of plate tectonics.
What is Pangea?
The name given to the supercontinent that is believed to exist long ago. Scientists believe that all 7 continents were once connected as one.
How are sedimentary rocks formed?
They are formed by sediment that is deposited over time, usually as layers at the bottom of lakes and oceans.
What is the difference between magma and lava?
Magma is the molten rock inside Earth's mantle, and when it erupts through a volcano, it is called lava.
What is the Ring of Fire?
An area on Earth where many volcanoes and earthquakes happen.
What is a volcano?
A rupture in the Earth’s crust that allows lava and magma to escape from below.
How are metamorphic rocks formed?
They are formed by pressure deep under the Earth's surface, from the extreme heat caused by magma or by the intense collisions and friction of tectonic plates.
Describe what erosion is. What can be formed by erosion?
Erosion is when natural materials like rocks and dirt are broken down and carried away. Canyons can be formed from erosion.
What can fossils tell us about the changing Earth's surface?
They can tell us what kinds of living things lived in which parts of Earth in the past.
What is compression?
When two plates crash into each other. This can result in mountains being formed.
Explain the rock cycle and give an example.
Rocks can change from one type into another as they go through the rock cycle. Example: when magma is sent to Earth's surface by a volcano, it then cools and hardens to form an igneous rock. It then is broken into small pieces of sediment through weathering and erosion which forms a sedimentary rock.
Name each layer of the Earth.
Crust, mantle, outer core, inner core.
How are earthquakes and volcanoes formed?
When tectonic plates move toward each other, away from each other, or slide past each other, they can cause earthquakes and volcanoes to form.
When two plates start to move away from each other. This causes tension on the earth’s crust causing it to crack.