Rocks and Minerals

The Top Ten Things I Learned from the Earth Unit!

1. There are constructive and Destructive forces that shape the earth.

2. Seismic waves travel through the earth, away from the focus, and tell about what’s inside.

3. The lithosphere is made up of broken plates (pieces) that shift and move causing deformation on the crust.

4. Convergent, Divergent and transform boundaries cause Compression, tension and shearing stress.

5. Earthquakes are the trembling and shaking of earth’s layers. This usually occurs where plate boundaries are located.

6. Volcanoes are weak spots in earth’s crust created by convergent-subduction zones, divergent boundaries, or hotspots.

7. Minerals are naturally occurring inorganic solids that have crystal structure and have definite chemical composition.

8. All rocks are made up of a mixture of minerals and other substances. The three formations of rock are igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.

9. The rock cycle is a set of processes that change a rock from one type to another. Rock is neither created or destroyed it just changes form.

10. All rock under-go a process of weathering and erosion that wear down rock. It is caused by gravity and helps to push the rock cycle along.