Minerals
There are at least 3,000 of these in Earth’s crust.
What are minerals?
These rocks form when magma crystallizes.
What are igneous rocks?
These rocks form from fragments of other rocks and minerals.
What are sedimentary rocks?
Soil is made of broken rock and this decaying material.
What is organic matter?
This is Earth’s main source of freshwater for people.
What is groundwater?
Minerals can be identified by these two types of properties.
What are physical and chemical properties?
Igneous rocks that cool slowly beneath Earth’s crust.
What are intrusive rocks?
These rocks form when existing rocks are changed by heat and pressure.
What are metamorphic rocks?
The color of soil is determined mostly by these two factors.
What are composition and climate?
Streams get longer because of this.
What is erosion?
The most reliable way to identify a mineral is by this method.
What is using a combination of several tests?
Igneous rocks that cool quickly on Earth’s surface.
What are extrusive rocks?
These rock types have break easily when bent.
What are sedimentary rocks?
Acid mine drainage most directly contaminates these.
What are rivers and streams with toxic heavy metals?
A stream moves this by carrying it.
What is sediment?
A mineral that scratches a fingernail but not a penny has a hardness between these two values.
What is harder than 2.5 but softer than 3.5?
Extrusive rocks, which cool rapidly, are usually this texture.
What is fine-grained?
Eroded materials are almost always carried in this direction.
What is downhill?
In an experiment, what is the independent variable.
What is the variable that is changed or manipulated?
When water is trapped underground and under pressure, it can create this type of well.
What is an artesian well?
A dark metallic mineral leaves a reddish-brown streak. This indicates it contains this element.
What is iron?
Valuable ore deposits and gem crystals are often associated with these.
What are igneous intrusions?
A student compares granite and limestone in acid. The scientific question is most likely this.
What effect does chemical weathering have on different rock types?
To prevent erosion on a hillside farm, this method works best.
What is planting grasses and small plants?
In cold, dry places like the tundra, the rate of weathering is described this way.
What is very slight/slow weathering?