Take a rock kit with eight different rocks.
In your lab notebook, draw a picture of each rock and write a complete description under the picture. Use complete sentences! Use the picture to draw the texture of the rock. Also describe the texture in words.
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What color or colors is the rock?
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What texture does it have (smooth, rough, glassy etc...)?
 How heavy or “solid” does it feel compared to the other rocks?
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What is the rock made of (look on the list below).
Don't damage the rock in any way. Don't even THINK about throwing a rock. Don't bother stealing them they aren't worth anything (less than a dollar) because they are only rocks. If you want to find pretty rocks to keep, just go look around central park and you will find lots.
Each Picture MUST be at least this big:
Keep the rock kits separate; don't mix them up!
Use all of the following phrases in your seven descriptions:
Glassy texture, Smooth texture, Rough texture, Visible (shiny) crystals, Sand, Pebbles, Air
Holes, Shell pieces
Black and white stripes

On the Regents exam, you will need to be able to tell the three rock types apart and explain how you know a rock is a particular type. Part of the Earth Science Regents exam is done in the laboratory with real rocks and other equipment.
Flashcards (copy these on flashcards or slips of paper)
1-Front: A rock with a dark, glass-like texture.
1-Back: Igneous rock - Glassy
2-Front: A rock with air holes (but no fossils)
2-Back: Igneous rock - Vesicular
3-Front: A rock with crystals large enough to see (but no stripes)
3-Back: Igneous rock - Visible crystals
4-Front: A rock that made out of seashell pieces
4-Back: Sedimentary rock – Fossils
5-Front: A rock that is made of pebbles or gravel crushed together
5-Back: Sedimentary rock – composed of sediment (pebbles)
6- Front: A rock that is made of sand crushed together
6- Back: Sedimentary rock - Composed of sediment (sand)
7-Front: A rock with black and white stripes.
7-Back: Metamorphic rock – Banding
8- Front: A rock flattened like a stack of pancakes
8- Back: Metamorphic rock – Foliated
Match each of these flashcards with a rock. Fix your rock descriptions so that they match the flashcards. For example, there is only one rock that is glassy, and one rock made of sand, but there are two rocks with air holes and two rocks with visible crystals.
Have the teacher check your matches. Study your flashcards so you know all the names of the rocks. Once you know all the rocks very well, ask to take the rock test up at the teacher's desk.
You will be given each of the eight rocks and asked to state what type it is and why.

Open the ESRT to pages 6 and 7. In your lab notebook, record whether each of these is a sedimentary rock, metamorphic rock, an igneous rock, or a mineral (ESRT 16). Use complete sentences!
Andesite, Biotite, Coal, Dunite, Granite, Gneiss, Limestone, Marble, Olivine, Quartz, Phyllite,
Shale, Slate
If it is a mineral, just write that “it is a mineral” for now. Minerals are listed in the “composition” columns (because rocks are made of minerals) and on the very bottom of page 6. They are also listed on page 16.
If it is an igneous rock, write if it is extrusive or intrusive and what the grain size is. Write what type of density and color it has and whether it is mafic or felsic.
If it is a sedimentary rock, state the grain size, whether it is clastic, bioclastic, or crystalline. Also write the general composition (what it is made of).
If it is a metamorphic, state if it has foliation and what type of foliation it has. Name the minerals it is made of. Also name the type or type(s) of metamorphism that forms the rock.
Use the flashcards and the ESRT to find the specific names of each of the seven rocks in the kit.
Write the eight names in your lab notebook and put the rocks on top of the names. Call over the teacher to check.
Hints:
The intrusive igneous rock is in the middle between light color and dark color.
The glassy rock has a high concentration of aluminum
One of the metamorphic rocks is the first stage of regional metamorphism. The other is the last stage.
Using big Venn diagrams, name as many similarities and differences as you can between these pairs of rocks:
Limestone and Dolostone
Gneiss and Quartzite
Conglomerate and Metaconglomerate
Basalt and Gabbro
Obsidian and Pegmatite
Granite and Gabbro
Shale and Sandstone

You should have 7 different minerals. If you are missing any minerals, ask the teacher. One of the minerals is wrapped in plastic bags. Do not remove this mineral, it is too fragile to survive weeks of lab testing without protection.
Draw a color picture of each mineral. Each picture must be at least as big as the picture for lab 1.
Write a description in three or four complete sentences. Your description should cover: color, texture (smooth or rough), luster (shiny or not), edges (straight or jagged).
Get a copy of the mineral identification table. Notice that there are seven minerals on this table.
These match the seven minerals in your kit. One of the entries in the table (magnetite) is crossed out because we don't have it.
Use the table to identify the 7 minerals. You can identify the minerals just by looking at them – you don't need to test streak or hardness.
Hints:
Calcite has flat sides / straight edges (cleavage) and gypsum has rough sides / jagged edges
Feldspar usually is pink or grey while calcite is usually yellow, white, or colorless (clear).
Write the seven names of the minerals in your lab notebook and place each mineral by it. Call the teacher over to check and get your stamp for lab 6. For the lab 7 stamp, you will need to take a verbal test of which mineral is which.
Safety warning! When you test streak and hardness, keep the plate flat against the table at all times. Also, don't remove the yellow mineral from the bag. You should be able to figure it out without testing it.
Get a mineral kit, streak plate, and glass plate from the teacher. Get one of the textbooks and read the section on mineral properties. Answer these questions IN COMPLETE SENTENCES.
1. Test your galena to see what streak it has. Write exactly how you did this and what results you got. Do your results agree with the table?
2. Test your gypsum to see what streak it has. Write exactly how you did this and what results you got. Do your results agree with the table?
3. Take your hornblende, state how you can tell what kind of luster it has.
4. Take your feldspar. State how you can tell what kind of cleavage it has.
5. Take your olivine. State how you can tell what type of cleavage it has.
6. Take your hornblende and test its hardness. Write exactly how you did this and what results you got. Do your results agree with the table?
7. Take your gypsum and test its hardness. Write exactly how you did this and what results you got. Do your results agree with the table?
8. Imagine you are taking the Regents lab test (which you will for real in June). Imagine that they gave you a piece of olivine and the mineral identification table. What streak, hardness, luster, and cleavage does it have?

9. Imagine you are taking the Regents lab test (which you will for real in June). Imagine that they gave you a piece of galena and the mineral identification table. What streak, hardness, luster, and cleavage does it have?
10. Imagine you are taking the Regents lab test (which you will for real in June). Imagine that they gave you a piece of sulfur and the mineral identification table. What streak, hardness, luster, and cleavage does it have?
Imagine you are writing the Earth Science Regents exam. In your lab notebook, write 8 different four-choice multiple-choice questions that can be answered using ESRT 16. In your questions, you must mention cleavage, uses, hardness, luster, and composition. Each question may only mention one or two of those but all five of them must be somewhere in your questions. Each question must have one right choice and three wrong choices.
Study all the rocks and minerals again. Come up to take a test. In the test I will give you each of the 13 rocks and minerals in random order and you must say if it is a rock or a mineral. If it is a rock you must say what type it is and why. If it is a mineral you will need to state whether it has a colored streak, whether it is harder than glass, if it has cleavage, and if it has metallic luster
We are going to use personification to understand the rock cycle. When you personify something you pretend that it is like a person. For example Mickey Mouse has a name, talks, and acts like a person.
Read ESTPS page 32, GES 138-139, and the unit 5 vocabulary sheet
Write the “life story” of a rock from the first person perspective. Give your rock a name, a gender, and a personality. For example, you might imagine that you are a fragment of limestone named Joni who loves adventure. Or you could be a piece of granite named Steve who is scared of everything.
During your rock’s life story you will be changed into the other two types of rock then back again into the same type of rock you started as. So for example you might be granite, then shale, then slate, then change back into granite again. In-between your time as rocks you will need to be changed into sediment and magma. As you change form from one thing to another you should write the story of what happens and how it makes you feel.
During this journey you will need to be moved around Earth. You should also personify at least two forces on Earth. For example you might get blown around by “Wally Wind” or find yourself melted in an eruption of “Mr. Spewington the Volcano.” At one point in the journey you should be used by humans for some purpose (see GES 116, 111, or 132 for ideas).
Products – each group member should contribute some significant work to the project:
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A hand-written draft of your story. It should be about 4 or 5 paragraphs. You may want to make an outline first.
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A typed version of your story that should be about as many words as are on this page
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(you can use one of the computers in-class)
At least four color illustrations that show events in your story. Leave room to attach the printed text of your story

The composition and origin of a substance determine its properties and classification.
We are going to use this big idea to make a big concept map of the vocabulary from the rocks and minerals unit.
Part 1 On a loose-leaf write as many sentences as you can connecting pairs of words from the word bank words using one of the four types of connecting sentences. Change any word from singular to plural or vice versa if necessary and don't worry too much about noun/verb agreement. Use your notes, books, or
ESRT if they are helpful. Make at least 20 sentences in addition to the four examples given below (which you should use).
There are four types of connections you can make between the words:
Origin : ____ come(s) from _____For example: Igneous rocks come from magma.
Composition : ______ is/are made of _______ For example: Foliated rocks are made of flat crystals.
Classification : ____ is/are a type of ____ For example: Bioclastic is a type of sedimentary rock.
Properties : ___ have/has the property ____ For example: Minerals have the property hardness.
Word Bank to fill in the blanks: (add to this if you think of more): aluminum, big crystals, bioclastic, blocky crystals, clastic, clay, contact metamorphism, elements(atoms), evaporites, extrusive, fast cooling, felsic, felsic rock, flat crystals, foliated, hardness, heat and pressure, heat only, high density, igneous rock, intrusive, iron and magnesium, lava, low density, luster, mafic, magma, metamorphic rock, metamorphism, non-foliated, organic material, regional metamorphism, rock, rough, sand, sediment, sedimentary rock, slow cooling, small crystals, smooth, streak, weathering
Step 2: Make a concept map connecting the sentences you wrote. The words from the word bank should be inside circles. Connect the words using an arrow with one of the four given connecting phrases:
Arrow Type 1: ____ come(s) from _____For example: Igneous rocks come from magma.
Arrow Type 2: ______ is/are made of _______ For example: Foliated rocks are made of flat crystals.
Arrow Type 3:____ is/are a type of ____ For example: Bioclastic is a type of sedimentary rock.
Arrow Type 4:___ have/has the property ____ For example: Minerals have the property hardness.
For example:
Make a draft of your concept map on regular paper, then make a final version on a chart paper.