1. Table of Contents: Rocks Writing Prompt: Rocks, what are they?

2. Rocks are….
A solid or liquid mixture of one or more minerals and sometimes organic matter (dead stuff).
The very solid matter that makes up Earth. There is no such thing as a plain old rock. Every rock tells a story.

3. igneous sedimentary metamorphic
There are three major groups of rocks: These terms refer to how the rocks in each group formed.
igneous
sedimentary
metamorphic

4. Observing Rocks
For each group of rocks that your table receives you will make a list of observations in your notebook.
Observations will include…?
Physical properties
Similarities or differences between the rocks
Connections or inferences you make as to how the rocks formed or where they can be found

5. You Rock!
Have a pencil ready
You DO NOT need your notebooks

6. Sedimentary Rock
forms when sediments (tiny pieces) of other rocks or the remains of plants and animals are compacted and cemented together.

7. Metamorphic Rock
forms when an existing rock is changed by heat & pressure. Most metamorphic rock forms deep underground.

8. Igneous Rock
forms from the cooling of molten rock—either magma below the surface or lava at the surface

9. Brain Pop!

10. How do sedimentary rocks form?
 Destructive forces are constantly breaking up and wearing away all the rocks on Earth's surface. These forces include heat and cold, rain, waves, and grinding ice.
Erosion occurs when running water or wind loosen and carry away the fragments of rock.
Deposition  Eventually, the moving water or wind slows and deposits the sediment. If water is carrying the sediment, rock fragments and other materials sink to the bottom of a lake or ocean. Deposition is the process by which sediment settles out of the water or wind carrying it 

11. THEN….
Compaction is the process that presses sediments together. Year after year more sediment falls on top, creating new layers. The weight of the layers further compacts the sediments, squeezing them tightly together. The layers often remain visible in the sedimentary rock. .
Cementation  While compaction is taking place, the minerals in the rock slowly dissolve in the water. The dissolved minerals seep into the spaces between particles of sediment. Cementation is the process in which dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediment together. It often takes millions of years for compaction and cementation to transform loose sediments into solid sedimentary rock.

12. How metamorphic rocks form ?
Every metamorphic rock is a rock that has changed its form. In fact, the word metamorphic comes from the Greek words meta, meaning “change,” and morphosis, meaning “form.” But what causes a rock to change into metamorphic rock? The answer lies inside Earth.

13. Metamorphic Changes!
When rock changes into metamorphic rock, its appearance, texture, crystal structure, and mineral content change. Metamorphic rock can form out of igneous, sedimentary, or other metamorphic rock.

14. Heat and pressure deep beneath Earth's surface can change any rock into metamorphic rock.
When rock

15. The Rock Cycle: A cycle of many pathways
The enormous granite dome that forms Stone Mountain in Georgia looks as if it will be there forever. The granite formed hundreds of millions of years ago as a batholith—a mass of igneous rock beneath Earth's surface. But this rock has stood exposed to the weather for millions of years. Bit by bit, the granite is flaking off. Washed away in streams, the bits of granite will eventually be ground down into sand. But that's not the end of the story. What will become of those sand particles from Stone Mountain? They are part of a series of changes that happen to all the rocks of Earth's crust.

16. Stone Mountain, near Atlanta, GA

17. Earth's rocks are not as unchanging as they seem.
Forces inside Earth and at the surface produce a rock cycle that builds, destroys, and changes the rocks in the crust .
The rock cycle is a series of processes on Earth's surface and inside the planet that slowly change rocks from one kind to another

18. What drives the rock cycle?
Earth's constructive and destructive forces—including plate tectonics—move rocks through the rock cycle.

19. The Rock Cycle