Learning the Rocks and Minerals

Native Copper has the following properties:

• fixed crystal structure

• solid

• not made by organisms

• found in nature

• made of the metal copper

Is Native copper a mineral?

Soap has the following properties.

• made in a factory

• solid

• not a pure substance

• no fixed crystal structure

Is soap a mineral?

Granodiorite has the following properties:

• not a pure substance

• naturally occurring

• not made by living things

• no fixed crystal structure

• solid

Is granodiorite a mineral?

• fixed crystal structure

• not made by living things

• pure substance

• solid

• naturally occurring

Is pyrite a mineral?

This is a piece of andesite. It was collected near a volcano in Greece.

Andesite is commonly found near volcanoes that are close to oceans. It forms through the cooling of melted rock. The mineral grains in andesite are usually small in size.

What type of rock is andesite?

This is a piece of quartzite. Quartzite forms when sandstone is changed by high temperature and pressure.

Quartzite is made mostly of the mineral quartz. It can also contain small amounts of other minerals. Depending on the minerals it contains, a piece of quartzite can be white, gray, pink, red, green, or blue.

What type of rock is quartzite?

This is a piece of chalk. Chalk forms below the ocean floor. It is made of the body parts of tiny marine organisms. The main mineral in chalk is calcite.

Some marine organisms make hard shells. When the organisms die, these shells fall to the ocean floor. Over time, layers of broken shells can get pressed together into chalk.

What type of rock is chalk?

This is a piece of slate. Slate usually forms from a sedimentary rock called shale. Slate can form when shale is changed by high temperature and pressure.

Slate is usually dark-colored. The word blackboard comes from the color of the slate. Decades ago, blackboards were made of black slate.

What type of rock is slate?