Name Class Date
Skills Worksheet
Directed Reading 6-1
Section: Rocks and the Rock Cycle
1. The solid part of Earth is made up of material called
a. glacial ice.
b. lava.
c. rock.
d. wood.
2. Rock can be a collection of one or more minerals, or it might be
made of
a. inorganic matter.
b. solid organic matter.
c. liquid organic matter.
d. chemicals.
3. Which of the following can rock sometimes be made of?
a. brick
b. solid matter that is not crystalline
c. inorganic matter
d. plastic
4. Scientists who study the processes that form and change rock are called
a. geologists.
b. paleontologists.
c. botanists.
d. zoologists.
THREE MAJOR TYPES OF ROCKS
5. The word igneous comes from a Latin term that means
a. “from fire.”
b. “from wind.”
c. “from rock.”
d. “from fossils.”
6. How do rocks get broken down into small fragments?
a. by freezing
b. by erosion
c. by deposition
d. by crystallization
Directed Reading continued
7. Which of the following does NOT change the form of existing rock?
a. extreme pressure
b. extreme heat
c. a chemical process
d. light
8. The word metamorphic means
a. “changed from.”
b. “to become.”
c. “changed form.”
d. “to form.”
In the space provided, write the letter of the description that best matches the term or phrase.
9. igneous rock
10. sedimentary rock
11. lava
12. metamorphic rock
13. magma
14. sediment
THE ROCK CYCLE
15. Define rock cycle.
16. When a body of ______________________ rock is exposed at Earth’s surface, a number of processes break the rock down into sediment.
17. When bits and pieces of rock are compacted or cemented, the bits and pieces become ______________________ rock.
18. If sedimentary rocks are subjected to changes in temperature and pressure, the rocks may become ______________________ rocks.
Directed Reading continued
19. Under certain temperature and pressure conditions, metamorphic rock will melt and form ______________________.
20. If magma cools, it turns into new ______________________ rock.
21. A particular body of rock does not always pass through each stage of the ______________________.
PROPERTIES OF ROCKS
22. How are the physical and chemical properties of rock determined?
23. What do the physical characteristics of a rock reflect?
24. What does the chemical stability of the minerals in the rock determine?
25. Which geologist began studying how minerals crystallize from magma, and when?
26. What did N.L. Bowen learn when he first began studying how minerals crystallize from magma?
Directed Reading continued
27. Define Bowen’s reaction series.
28. According to Bowen’s hypothesis, what are the two ways that minerals form?
29. The rate at which a mineral chemically breaks down is dependent on the ______________________ of the mineral.
30. In general, which minerals are most stable, and which minerals are least stable?
31. What two factors determine rocks’ natural zones of weakness?
32. Both sedimentary and metamorphic rocks tend to break in ______________________.
33. When rock formed under intense ______________________ is uplifted to Earth’s surface, decreased pressure allows the joints and fractures to open.
34. Once weaknesses are exposed to air, chemical and physical processes begin to _______________________________________ the rock.
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Holt McDougal Earth Science 7 Rocks