3rd Grade Rocks & Minerals
Mrs. Thornburg’s Vocabulary
Pictures
Vocabulary Words in this Unit
Mineral
Rock
Erosion
Silt
Sand
Clay
Weathering
Igneous Rock
Sedimentary Rock
Metamorphic Rock
Humus
Loam
What do we call the part of the soil made up of
broken-down pieces of dead plants and animals?
Humus
What do we call soil that is a mixture of humus,
sand, silt, and clay?
Loam
What do we call a type of soil with very, very tiny
grains of rock?
Clay
What do we call rock that was once melted and
then cooled and hardened?
Igneous Rock
What do we call a rock made when materials settle
into layers and get squeezed until they harden into
rock?
Sedimentary Rock
What do we call a rock that has been changed by
heat or pressure?
Metamorphic Rock
What do we call the breaking down of rock into
smaller pieces?
Weathering
What is a solid object found in nature that has
never been alive?
Mineral
What is a naturally formed solid made of grains of
one or more minerals?
Rock
What do we call the movement of weathered rock
and soil?
Erosion
What do we call soil with grains of rock that you
can see with your eyes only?
Sand
What do we call soil with grains of rock that are too
small to see with your eyes alone?
Silt