Name _________________________________
Date______________
Class ________
Unit 2: Rocks & Minerals Test Study Guide
Minerals
1) Look at the Mineral Chart below.
a. What are some similarities between gold and pyrite? ____________________________________
b. What are some differences between gold and pyrite? _____________________________________
2) What would be the best tools to use to measure the density of a small mineral? ___________________
3) What mineral property is being tested in this picture?
____________________________
Use the chart below to answer question 4.
mineral
Galena
Magnetite
Hematite
hardness
2.5
6
6
way it breaks
cleavage
fracture
fracture
luster
metallic
metallic
metallic-dull
streak
gray-black
black
red-brown
color
silver, gray
black
red-brown, silver, black
4) Susan wants to identify a dark, heavy, that has flat, reflective surfaces and breaks into boxlike
steps. She notices there are three minerals in a chart in a reference book that might match her
sample. She infers the mineral may be galena. If she is correct, one more test will verify her
inference. Which property would to best for her to observe next?
____________________________________________________________
Use the Mohs Scale to the left to answer the following questions.
5) An unidentified mineral can scratch quartz, but not corundum. What could the
mineral be? __________________________
6) An unidentified mineral can scratch gypsum, but not fluorite. What could the
unidentified mineral be? ________________________________
7) An unknown mineral is scratched against feldspar, but neither will scratch the
other. What does this tell us about the hardness of the unknown mineral?
__________________________________________________________________
Types of Rocks
8) Rocks on Earth’s surface are classified as igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic. How do geologist
make these classifications? _________________________________________________________
Igneous Rocks
9) Pumice is an igneous rock. What process created it? _________________________________________
10) Fine-grained rocks are ________________, formed when lava erupts to the surface and cools
____________.
11) Rocks that cooled VERY RAPIDLY have what texture? _____________________ Name an igneous rock
that has this texture? ______________ Describe how it looks. _______________________________
Sedimentary Rocks
12) Rocks and minerals that are broken down into smaller particles (without changing in composition) is
called __________________.
13) Sandstone is a ______________________ rock. What process formed it? ________________________
14) What processes turn sediment into sedimentary rock? _______________________________________
15) Which process involved in making a sedimentary rock is when sediment piles up in layers, and exerts
pressure on the sediments below, squeezing them together? __________________________
16) True or False: If we measure the rate at which similar layers of sediment are laid down currently, it will
give us an estimate of how long it took for a layer of sedimentary rock to form.
17) __________________ are often found in sedimentary rock, organisms can easily be preserved in the
layers of sediment. because
The picture below shows sedimentary rock layers.
18)
19)
Which layer was deposited first? ___________________
Which layer was deposited last? ____________________
Metamorphic Rocks
20) What is the source of the heat & pressure that creates metamorphic rocks?
____________________________________________________________________________________
21) Limestone goes through heat & pressure, and changes into a different kind of rock called marble. What
kind of rock is marble? ______________________________
The Rock Cycle
22) What process would change a sedimentary rock into an igneous rock? __________________________
23) When an igneous rock, such as granite, undergoes heat & pressure, what type of rock does it change
into? ______________________________________
24) Large amounts of rainfall, or water, in an area can speed up which process in the rock cycle?
____________________________________
Use the rock cycle diagram to determine if the following statements are true or false.
True or False:
25) _____ Weathering & erosion can turn igneous rock into sediment.
26) _____ Heat & pressure turn metamorphic rock into igneous rock.
27) _____Heat & pressure convert igneous rock into metamorphic rock.
28) _____ Each type of rock gets melted & the magma turns into igneous, metamorphic & sedimentary
rock.
29) _____ All three rock types weather to create sediments. All three types of rocks can become
metamorphic by going through heat & pressure. All three types of rocks melt to make magma.
Magma creates igneous rocks.
30) _____ Igneous rock is weathered to create sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock is melted to form
igneous rock. Metamorphic rock is weathered to form igneous rock.
31) _____ Heat & pressure creates igneous rocks.
32) _____Only sedimentary rocks get weathered & eroded.
33) _____ Sedimentary rocks are made from the sediments of igneous, metamorphic or other
sedimentary rocks.
My child studied this study guide this week in preparation for their test on October 14th.
Please sign each night you study with your child.
Parent Signature _______________________________________
Date_________________
Parent Signature _______________________________________
Date_________________
Parent Signature _______________________________________
Date_________________
Answer Key
1) a. color, transparency & luster
b. hardness
2) graduated cylinder and a balance
3) hardness
4) hardness
5) topaz
6) calcite
7) the unknown mineral WILL scratch apatite (or anything with a lower number on the scale).
8) How the rocks were formed
9) Cooling & hardening (solidification) of magma or lava
10) Extrusive; quickly/rapidly
11) No visible grain or glassy; obsidian; black, shiny, glass-like surfaces
12) Sediments
13) Sedimentary rock; lithification
14) Compaction & cementation
15) Compaction
16) True
17) Fossils
18) M
19) L
20) From the weight of the overlying rock layers, deep inside the earth
21) Metamorphic
22) Melting, cooling & solidification (hardening)
23) Metamorphic
24) Weather & erosion
25) True
26) False
27) True
28) False
29) True
30) False
31) False
32) False
33) True