Download Lab: Rock Around the Rock Cycle

Name: _____________________
Lab: Rock Around the Rock Cycle
Background: The rocks that make up the Earth are constantly being recycled. One
form of rock is often changed into another form of rock through the processes of
nature you have been learning about that occur over time.
List the processes that change rocks/rock material:
Materials: per group: 3 different colored starburst candies, scissors, piece of
aluminum foil or small foil pie plate, hot plate, markers or colored pencils, paper,
heavy books, blank rock cycle diagram
Procedure:
1. Take your three different colored Starbursts and cut them into as many small
pieces as you can. Put them in a pile and draw what you observe in your
sediments box on the rock cycle diagram.
2. Pick up the "sediments" and gently push them together so they all form into one
big piece. Set this piece down and draw what you observe in the sedimentary
rock box on the rock cycle diagram
3. Now take your "sedimentary rock" and warm it in your hands for a while. Place
the paper and book on top of the warm "sedimentary rock" and press down on it.
Fold this in half and press down on it some more. Draw what you observe in
the metamorphic rock box on the rock cycle diagram.
4. Place your "metamorphic rock" on the piece of aluminum foil. Turn on the hot
plate and place the foil on the hot plate. BE CAREFUL! Observe the
"metamorphic rock" as it melts. Draw what you observe in the magma box on
your rock cycle diagram.
5. Take your foil off the hot plate with tongs, being careful not to spill the
"magma". Set it on the table and observe it as it cools and hardens. Draw what
you observe in the igneous rock box on your rock cycle diagram.
6. Complete the conclusion and analysis questions.
Conclusions and Analysis Questions
Name: _KEY______________
1. We already know that we could turn the sedimentary rock into metamorphic rock (we
did that in step #3). How could you turn the sedimentary rock into igneous rock without
going through the metamorphic stage?
Sedimentary rock can become igneous rock if the sedimentary rock completely
melts down and then cools and crystalizes
2. You are probably starting to see that any form of rock can be changed into any other form
of rock. How could a rock be changed but still be classified as the same type of rock?
Give specific examples with processes.
A metamorphic rock could become another metamorphic rock if it received another
round of high heat and pressure
3. Which rock is formed from broken-down pieces of rock? How do you think these pieces
harden into rocks in nature?
Sedimentary rock formed from compaction (squeezed) and cementation (glued ).
The larger pieces (the clasts) are glued together by the smaller pieces (the cement).
4. Your hands and tools were the cause of movement of the materials in this lab. What is
the cause of movement (force) that changes rocks in the rock cycle? Explain with cause
and effect.
Gravity and the Earth’s internal heat are the driving forces that cause plate
tectonics (via convection currents in the mantle), wind (convection currents in the
atmosphere), water moving, and tides, etc.. All of these forces contribute to
weathering, and erosion, and the processes of the rock cycle.
5. Considering rocks and tectonic plates, how is the Earth like a gigantic recycling center?
As plates subduct the crust/lithosphere/rocks are returned to the mantle where they
melt back into magma. Then, at divergent boundaries magma rises and forms new
crust/lithosphere/rock.
6. Besides using Starbursts to represent minerals, what are the limitations of this model of
the rock cycle (meaning, what are some differences than the real rock cycle in nature?
The forces that cause the rock cycle are your hands and the griddle, not the natural
forces of the Earth. The time scale at which the rock cycle runs is much longer
geologic time, in contrast to a single class period
Rock Cycle Diagram
1. Use the following five processes to LABEL EVERY ARROW on the rock cycle diagram: compaction and cementation,
melting, cooling and hardening, heat and pressure, weathering and erosion
Sediments
Sedimentary Rock
Igneous Rock
Metamorphic Rock
Magma
Conclusions and Analysis Questions KEY Name: _____________________
1. We already know that we could turn the sedimentary rock into metamorphic rock (we
did that in step #3). How could you turn the sedimentary rock into igneous rock
without going through the metamorphic stage?
2. You are probably starting to see that any form of rock can be changed into any other
form of rock. How could a rock be changed but still be classified as the same type of
rock? Give specific examples with processes.
3. Which rock is formed from broken-down pieces of rock? How do you think these
pieces harden into rocks in nature?
4. Your hands and tools were the cause of movement of the materials in this lab. What
is the cause of movement (force) that changes rocks in the rock cycle? Explain with
cause and effect.
5. Considering rocks and tectonic plates, how is the Earth like a gigantic recycling
center?
6. Besides using Starbursts to represent minerals, what are the limitations of this model
of the rock cycle (meaning, what are some differences than the real rock cycle in
nature?