Download Rock Cycle Gizmo

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Name: ______________________________________
Date: ________________________
Student Exploration: Rock Cycle
Vocabulary: deposition, erosion, extrusive igneous rock, intrusive igneous rock, lava, lithification, magma,
metamorphic rock, rock cycle, sediment, sedimentary rock, soil, weathering
Gizmo Warm-up
Over millions of years, rocks are broken down and
transformed into other rocks. The Rock Cycle Gizmo™
illustrates the different transformations that make up
the rock cycle.
1. What are the 3 types of rocks?
2. Label where these 3 types of rocks can be found.
3. Magma is molten (liquid) rock under Earth’s surface.
When it cools, it forms either extrusive or intrusive igneous rocks. How do these two types of igneous
rocks differ in terms of their formation and their characteristics? _________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
Activity A:
The rock cycle
Get the Gizmo ready:
 Click Start again.
Question: What is the rock cycle?
4. Observe: A cycle is a path with the same start and end. Create a rock cycle with the Gizmo.
A. Click Magma. How hot is magma? _______________________________________
B. Click Crystallization (below ground). What kind of rock is formed when magma cools below the
surface? _______________________________________________
C. Click Exposure and weathering. What forms when rocks break down? __________
D. Click Erosion and deposition. In what ways are sediments transported? __________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
E. Click Lithification and compaction. (Lithification is hardening into rock.) What kind of rock is
formed from sediments? ____________________________________
F. Click Increase temp. and pressure. What kind of rock is formed? ______________
G. Click Melt. What is formed when rocks melt deep underground? ________________
5. Describe: What are the stages in this rock cycle? ____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
6. With a partner: In the spaces below, create three rock cycles. You can start anywhere, but each cycle
must begin and end at the same point.
Cycle 1
Cycle 2
Cycle 3
7. With a partner: The diagram on the next page summarizes the different stages in the rock cycle.
A. Draw arrows to represent each possible transition from one stage of the rock cycle to the next.
(Hints: Two arrows can go both ways! Several arrows go across the center!)
B. Label each arrow with the process that occurs.
Word/Phrase Bank:
Compaction and lithification
Crystallization
Erosion and deposition
Exposure and weathering
Increase temperature and pressure
Melt
Note: You may use each word or phrase more than once.
8. Practice: List the steps that would cause each transformation below.
A. Intrusive igneous rock  sedimentary rock: _____________________________
___________________________________________________________________
B. Metamorphic rock  sediment: _________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
C. Sediment  sedimentary rock: __________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
D. Sedimentary rock  sediment: __________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
9. Assessment Questions: Record your answers below.
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