1. ROCKS and MINERALS

2. How Do Weathering and Erosion Shape Earth’s Surface?
Mission: Describe the differences
between physical weathering
and erosion.

3. Erosion by wind.

4. Erosion by wind.

5. Erosion by wind.

6. Erosion by wind.

7. Erosion by water.

8. Erosion by water.

10. Biological weathering.

11. What can Break a Boulder?
When you think of rocks, words like
hard and solid may come to mind.
You may think rocks can’t even break,
but that’s not true. Rocks can be
cracked and crushed by mere
wind and rain.

12. The roots of this tree broke
apart the rocks.

13. When it rains, water can get into the cracks of rocks.

14. When water freezes, it expands.
This widens the cracks.

15. When water freezes again, it pushes the cracks in the
rocks even wider. When this
happens many times, the rock
breaks apart.

16. The process of rock breaking apart is called
WEATHERING.
Many different things can cause weathering. Gravity can cause rocks to fall down a cliff and break apart.

17. Weathering by gravity.

18. Flowing water can cause rocks to tumble and scrape against each other
Flowing water can cause rocks to tumble and scrape against each other. Sand blown by wind can scrape against rocks.

19. Weathering: Causing rocks to break apart.

20. Living things can also cause weathering
Living things can also cause weathering. A tree’s roots can grow in a small crack in a rock. As the roots grow, it can push the rock apart until the rock breaks.

21. Animals may dig up rocks, causing the rocks to be exposed to wind and rain.

22. Chemicals in water and rain that flow through and around rocks can also cause weathering. These chemicals can combine with the rock and change it so that it crumbles and wears away.

23. Statues can also be changed by weathering.

25. Don’t rocks just sit around
Rocks on the Move
Don’t rocks just sit around
in the sun all day?
No. Rocks can move!

26. Weathering is the beginning of a series of changes that often occurs to rocks on Earth’s surface. The same wind and water that can cause weathering also can carry the broken bits of rock away. The process of moving weathered rock from one place to another is called erosion.

27. The erosion of rock can be caused by many different natural processes
The erosion of rock can be caused by many different natural processes. Moving water is one of the most common causes of erosion.

28. The fast-moving water in this stream can shift or move large rocks near the top of the mountain. Together with gravity, water can cause the rocks to move downhill.

29. Erosion of beaches by hurricanes.

30. The water pulls the larger pieces of weathered rock along the river’s bottom. As the water slows down, it has less energy. It cannot move the largest rocks and pebbles anymore. These are left behind as the water moves on. The dropping of weathered rock by wind or moving water is known as deposition.

31. As the water in a river continues to slow down, more bits of weathered rock are dropped and left behind. This happens because slow-moving water can only carry very small pieces of rock, such as sand and silt. These bits of rock are called sediment.

32. When rivers reach the ocean, they slow down even more
When rivers reach the ocean, they slow down even more. As they slow down, much of the remaining sediment in the water is dropped. Over time, the sediment piles up near the mouth of the river. It forms a landform called a delta.

34. The wind is just moving air, so what can it do?
Wind blows sand and other sediment away.

35. Wind can carry away soil and other sediment. Where does all of it go
Wind can carry away soil and other sediment. Where does all of it go? Some particles are not carried very far. Others can be carried thousands of miles away. Sand from the Sahara Desert, in Africa, is sometimes carried all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States.

36. Wind may deposit a lot of sand in one area
Wind may deposit a lot of sand in one area. Over time the sand builds up and forms dunes. Sand dunes are often found near sandy beaches.

38. This rock, called a mushroom rock, began as a giant boulder
This rock, called a mushroom rock, began as a giant boulder. Wind slowly eroded the rock, leaving the mushroom shape behind.

39. Huge sheets of ice are called glaciers.
Can you imagine an ice cube the size of a city? Some chunks of ice are even larger than that!
Huge sheets of ice are called glaciers.

40. Glaciers are found in very cold places
Glaciers are found in very cold places. You may think that because a glacier is made of ice, it does not move. But the ice flows like a very slow river. As the glacier flows, it picks up large rocks and boulders.

42. Glaciers pick up rocks and the soil under it, causing erosion
Glaciers pick up rocks and the soil under it, causing erosion. When the glacier begins to melt, the rocks and sediment drop out of the ice. This sediment forms many different features, including hills called moraines.

43. MORAINES
GLACIER

44. GRAVITY
Gravity pulls a ball thrown into the air down. It pulls you down. It even pulls the rain and snow down. It can pull rocks down, too.

46. Just as gravity causes a ball to fall back to earth, it causes rocks and sediment to slide down mountains and cliffs. Gravity can even cause huge chunks of rock and soil to slide down a slope all at once. This is called a landslide.

49. Landslides happen a lot in mountain ranges
Landslides happen a lot in mountain ranges. A hill’s slope affects how gravity will act on it. If the slope is steep, rocks are much more likely to fall than if it is not steep.

50. Do the Math Measure Angles
The steepness of a slope is measured in degrees. Use a protractor to measure the three slopes. Which has the steepest slope?

51. WATER
Water carries dirt down the drain when you wash your hands. It also carries rocks and sediment down a river or along a beach.

52. Flowing water has energy. That energy can carry sediment down a river
Flowing water has energy. That energy can carry sediment down a river. Ocean waves have a lot of energy. Waves crash on rocks along a shore, causing rocks to break apart. The waves cut cliffs and cause caves to form. Waves can also carry away sediment and deposit it in other places. Over time a beach may form or a beach can be washed away.

55. desposition erosion glacier gravity landform sediment weathering
Check What You Know
What process causes rocks to break down into smaller pieces?
What process causes eroded sediments to be dropped off in another place?
What is a land feature such as a delta or a sand dune called?
What are broken-down pieces of rock called?
What process carries away weathered rock?
What is a large sheet of flowing ice called?
What force causes landslides to occur?
desposition erosion glacier gravity landform sediment weathering

56. What Are Minerals? Mission: Identify the physical properties of
common earth-forming minerals,
including hardness, color, luster, and
streak color, and recognize the role
of minerals in the formation of rocks.

57. What do copper, table salt, and diamonds have in common?
They are all minerals!

58. A mineral is any nonliving solid that has a crystal form.
All minerals form in nature –
under the ground, in caves,
and even in the air.
There are over 4,700 different
minerals found on Earth.

59. When you think of crystals, you may
think of ones like those in caves. But
not all crystals look like those. Mineral
crystals come in different shapes, but
there is something that is the same.
The particles in a crystal combine to
form a shape that is repeated over and
over again. It is this repeated structure
that defines a crystal.

60. Minerals are the same in another way, too
Minerals are the same in another way, too. Each mineral is made up of the same set of nonliving things called elements. For example, the mineral calcite is always made of the elements calcium, carbon, and oxygen.

61. Rubies are always made of aluminum and oxygen.
Diamonds are always made of carbon.

62. One characteristic that can help you identify minerals is crystal shape.
SQUARE SQUARE HEXAGONAL
PYRAMID PRISM PRISM
BERYL
PYRITE
FLUORITE

63. Which Mineral Is Which?
With more than 4,700 minerals in the world, how can you tell one mineral from another?

64. HARDNESS is one property used to identify minerals
HARDNESS is one property used to identify minerals. Hardness is a mineral’s ability to scratch another mineral. In a scientist named Friedrich Mohs developed a scale to compare the hardness of different minerals.

65. The softest minerals score a 1.
On the Moh’s scale, a mineral with a higher number can scratch a mineral with a lower or equal number.
The softest minerals score a 1.
Every other mineral can scratch minerals with a hardness of 1.
The hardest mineral is a diamond. It scores a 10 on the Moh’s scale.
Only another diamond can scratch a diamond.

67. Another property used to tell one mineral from another is LUSTER.
Luster describes how minerals reflect light. The minerals copper, gold, and silver each have a metallic luster.
Talc and gypsum each have an earthy luster.

68. Suppose you found this bright purple mineral
Suppose you found this bright purple mineral. How would you describe its luster?

69. This mineral can be scratched by diamond but not by feldspar
This mineral can be scratched by diamond but not by feldspar. What would the mineral’s hardness be?

71. METALLIC LUSTER
EARTHY LUSTER
Opaque
GLASSY LUSTER

72. You can scratch minerals with a hardness of 2 or less with a fingernail. You can scratch minerals with a hardness of 5 or less with a steel nail. 2 5

73. What Are Properties of
Minerals?

74. You can use all sorts of properties to identify minerals
You can use all sorts of properties to identify minerals. Some are more useful than others. But if you use all of them, you’ll probably be able to identify the mineral every time!

75. The color of a mineral may vary, but its streak is always the same.
To identify a mineral you can rub the mineral against a white tile called a streak plate. The color left behind is called the mineral’s streak.

76. Pyrite has a gold color, but its streak is greenish-black.
Sometimes a streak is the same color as the mineral itself. But this is not true for all minerals.
Pyrite has a gold color, but its streak is greenish-black.

77. Magnetite attracts things that have iron in them.
Magnetism is another property
you can test for.

78. You have learned that mineral crystals come in different shapes
You have learned that mineral crystals come in different shapes. Mineral crystals also break in a certain way. The way a mineral breaks is another way you can use to identify it. When some minerals break, the broken sides are smooth and straight. Minerals that break this way have cleavage. Minerals that do not break along smooth lines have fracture.

79. This piece of mica has cleavage. It breaks into thin, flat sheets.

80. A mineral can come in different colors
A mineral can come in different colors. Corundum crystals can be red, blue, green, yellow, purple, or brown. Yet no matter what color the corundum crystal is, its streak is always white. Because of this streak color is useful when identifying a mineral.

81. Some minerals have other
properties. Calcite and fluorite glow under a black light. Calcite also fizzes when you put a drop of vinegar on it.
Quartz can conduct electricity.
calcite
fluorite

82. What tests could you use?
Look at the minerals shown here. They are all quartz. How could you show that they are all quartz?
What tests could you use?

83. cleavage crystal hardness luster minerals streak
Show What You Know
cleavage crystal hardness luster minerals streak
1. You can find out a minerals’ _______ by seeing what other minerals it can scratch.
2. A nonliving solid that has a _______ form is called a mineral.
3. Gold, silver, copper, and pyrite each have a metallic _______.
4. Fluorite, talc, diamond, gold, and quartz are all examples of _______.
5. The color left behind when a mineral is rubbed across a white tile is its _______.
6. A mineral that breaks along straight, smooth lines is said to have _______.

84. Think! This mineral can scratch talc, but not calcite. ____
This mineral can scratch apatite, but not quartz. ____ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
talc
gypsum
calcite
Fluorite
apatite
feldspar
quartz
topaz
corundum
diamond

85. How Can Rocks Be Classified?
Identify the three categories of rocks:
igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.

86. IGNEOUS = FIRE