Rocks & Minerals Pre-Assessment Answer Key
1. Match the mineral property with its definition:
Streak
How well light can pass through a mineral.
Hardness
The way that light reflects off a mineral’s
surface.
Transparency
A mineral’s colour.
Lustre
How difficult it is to scratch a mineral.
Colour
The colour of a mineral’s powder.
2. Describe the tests done to reveal the following properties:
A) Hardness: __Scratch
B) Steak: __Rub
a mineral with another mineral
a mineral on a rough surface.
C) Lustre: __Shine
a light on it.
3. What is the difference between magma and lava?
Magma is liquid rock under the ground and lava is liquid
rock above the ground
4. Explain how each of the following are formed:
A)Metamorphic Rock: Formed when rock is transformed into
another kind of rock by extreme temperatures and
pressures below the earth’s surface.
B) Intrusive Igneous Rock: Formed when magma cools and
hardens below the earth’s surface.
C)
Sedimentary Rock: Formed when pressure from layers of
sediment presses the layers below together and
dissolved minerals in water cement layers together.
D) Extrusive Igneous Rock: Formed when lava cools and hardens
on the earth’s surface.
5. How do fossils form?
Small organisms that died are trapped under layers of
sediment. The heat and pressure from all the layers of
sediment form the fossil.
6. Why are fossils important?
They tell us about life from long ago
7. Complete the following table:
How We Use Rock
Example of type of rock used
Jewelry
Diamonds; gold; emeralds; etc.
Construction
Granite; concrete; iron; etc.
Energy
Natural gas; coal; etc.
Art
Marble; paint pigment; etc.
Transportation
Iron; Steel; etc.
8. Fill in each oval with the process that takes place to change one type of rock into
another in the rock cycle:
Sedimentary
Rock
Heat & Pressure
Erosion
Erosion
Melt into magma
Erosion
Erosion
Metamorphic
Heat & Pressure
Erosion
Rock
Igneous
Rock
Melt into magma