Rock Cycle

Summary: The Rock cycle.  Metamorphic, Igneous, Sedimentary. We know them all. Do you know how they get there? That's what our lovely rock cycle is for. From weathering, erosion, pressure and heat these rocks can change the way they look. Let walk through how lets say a sedimentary igneous rock could be turned into a sedimentary. First of all the igneous rock has to start out as magma. That magma will go to the surface through eruption. Once it cools it turns into a solid rock on the outside of the volcano. After a while it begins to weather by rain and wind. It turns into soil. The soil gets broken apart by erosion and those smaller pieces of the old igneous rocks turn into sediments. Finally they get compacted by some pressure and tada you got some sedimentary rock. This is just one example and any type of rock can turn into another type but that the basics of how the rock cycle works.

S&EP: Using Models: In science class we used the model of starburst. If you look at the images you can see. Those were our models of a metamorphic rock, a igneous rock, and a sedimentary rock. As you can see a metamorphic rock is quite flat and compressed. Then the igneous is glossy and was very hard. Then last but not least the sedimentary was pieces together and held together by little pressure. Each Starburst formation has the semi characteristics of the rock it represents. We used these models to understand how they transform and what you must do to make them different.

XCC: This week we used Cause and effect. In the rock cycle cause and effect is a big deal. For each small step in the process adds to what the rock will end up becoming. For example if you put a sedimentary rock under a lot of pressure that pressure will transform it into a metamorphic rock. The cause of the change from the pressure and the effect is a different rock. A consistent change in type means many steps of cause and effect. That's why this week we say and understood cause and effect in a different way.