Rocks exhibit a variety of properties, including shape, size,texture, and color. Settling or layering of materials in water can be used to separate Earth materials. Crystals form from the evaporation of a saltwater mixture. Rocks are composed of Earth materials called minerals that cannot be physically broken apart any further. Calcite Quest Calcite is a mineral that fizzes when placed in acid.
Minerals have different properties.
Take It For Granite Rocks are made of minerals. The rock granite is made up of quartz, feldspar, mica, and dark minerals such as hornblende. Properties of minerals can be used to identify the minerals in a rock. When students are engaged in the Earth Materials activities, they may come up with different results from their neighbors or from what the teacher is expecting due to the inherent differences in the rocks or minerals supplied with the module. Although the FOSS kit suppliers try to maintain uniform quality and consistency, even rocks or minerals from the same outcrop may give different results, and your set of rocks may contain samples from more than one outcrop.