Rocks and Minerals Jeopardy

This type of rock forms when hot, melted rock cools and hardens, either underground or after a volcano erupts.

What is igneous rock?

This is the name for molten rock while it is still underground, before it erupts from a volcano.

What is magma?

Once magma erupts from a volcano and reaches the surface, it is given this new name.

What is lava?

This shiny, black, glassy rock forms when lava cools so quickly that no crystals have time to form.

What is obsidian?

This light-colored rock, full of holes from trapped gas bubbles, is so light it can float on water.

What is pumice?

This type of rock forms when layers of sand, mud, and small pieces of other rocks get pressed and cemented together over time.

What is sedimentary rock?

This soft, crumbly rock is made of hardened mud or clay and often splits apart into thin, flat layers.

What is shale?

This rock is made almost entirely of small, rounded grains of sand cemented together.

What is sandstone?

This rock forms mainly from the mineral calcite and is often built from the shells and skeletons of ancient sea creatures.

What is limestone?

These are the visible layers you can often see in this kind of rock, each one formed at a different time as sediment piled up.

What are strata?

This type of rock forms when heat and pressure inside the Earth change an existing rock without fully melting it.

What is metamorphic rock?

This shiny, banded rock, often used in kitchen countertops, forms from granite under intense heat and pressure.

What is gneiss?

This soft, smooth rock, often carved into statues, forms when limestone is subjected to heat and pressure.

What is marble?

This dark, dull rock, which easily splits into thin, flat sheets, forms when shale is put under low heat and pressure and is often used for roof tiles.

What is slate?

This sparkly rock, often containing large, visible flecks of mica, forms from shale under more heat and pressure than slate.

What is schist?

This term describes the ongoing, never-ending process by which rocks change from one type into another over long spans of time.

What is the rock cycle?

This process, caused by wind, water, and ice slowly wearing away rock at the surface, breaks larger rocks into smaller sediment.

What is weathering?

This process carries broken-down bits of rock, like sand and pebbles, from one place to another, often by rivers or wind.

What is erosion?

When layers of sediment are squeezed together tightly, this process presses out water and packs the particles closer, an early step toward turning sediment into rock.

What is compaction?

When rocks are pushed deep underground and heated to extreme temperatures, they can turn completely liquid in this process, ready to cool into new igneous rock.

What is melting?

This property of a mineral describes how it shines, or reflects light, such as metallic, glassy, or dull.

What is luster?

This test involves rubbing a mineral against an unglazed tile to see what color powder it leaves behind.

What is a streak test?

Developed in 1812, this scale ranks minerals from softest to hardest by which ones can scratch which.

What is the Mohs scale?

This property describes a mineral's tendency to break along smooth, flat surfaces in certain directions.

What is cleavage?

This is the measurement of how much matter is packed into a mineral compared to an equal volume of water; it tells you how heavy the mineral feels for its size.

What is density?

These preserved traces or remains of ancient living things, sometimes found inside rock, tell us about life long ago.

What are fossils?

This type of fossil forms when a footprint, burrow, or other mark left by an ancient animal hardens into rock.

What is a trace fossil?

Fossils most often form when a dead organism is quickly buried by this loose material, like sand or mud, before it can decay.

What is sediment?

This golden, hardened tree resin sometimes preserves whole insects, perfectly trapped inside, from millions of years ago.

What is amber?

This scientist studies fossils to learn about ancient life and how organisms have changed over time.

Who is a paleontologist?