Quick check: sedimentary, metamorphic and the rock cycle
A few quick questions on how sedimentary and metamorphic rocks form, how rocks change from one type to another, and why properties decide how rocks are used. Taught in class; use this to check yourself.
The same atoms have been rock, sand, mud and lava many times over. How do rocks change from one kind to another?
Your teacher covers sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, the rock cycle and rock uses in class. These questions check the basics. Igneous rocks are on screen in the Igneous lesson.
Explain: Use the particle model to explain what you saw.
Make your prediction first. Help opens once you've locked it in.
ExplainUse the particle model to explain what you saw.
Sedimentary rocks
Which sedimentary property comes from which step?
Visible layers (strata)Sediment settles in layers.
Grains stuck together by cement
Sorted grains of similar sizeWater slows and drops grains of similar size together.
Hardened, compacted rock
ExplainUse the particle model to explain what you saw.
Metamorphic rocks
What does it become with heat and pressure?
Limestone
Shale (mudstone)
Sandstone
ExplainUse the particle model to explain what you saw.
The rock cycle
ExplainUse the particle model to explain what you saw.
Properties and uses
For teachers
A self-test on sedimentary and metamorphic rock formation, the rock cycle and rock properties and uses (AC9S8U04, nodes 1, 3, 4 and 5, taught in class; node 4 a hinge). About 18 minutes.
I can say how metamorphic rock forms and give a parent and its product.
I can trace a rock-cycle pathway and say how plate tectonics drives it.
I can link a rock property to its use.
Before class
A Quick check: a few questions on what students should know for AC9S8U04 nodes 1, 3, 4 and 5, which you teach in class. It has no board, no clip and no new teaching, and it is optional, so it never holds up course completion. Set the width with ?width=minimum, typical (default) or wider.
Use it as a self-test after your teaching, a starter, or revision. Igneous rocks (node 2) are on screen in the Igneous lesson. A hands-on rock collection is the best way to teach these nodes; the questions check the ideas afterwards. For traditional stone selection, local knowledge and community guidance are richer than anything on screen.
Running the lesson
Do each node as a pair: the questions, then the "I can" line.
The pathway question is a good prompt to draw the rock cycle diagram on the board and number the processes.
The hard part (on purpose)
Seeing the cycle as a loop with no fixed order. When a student says rocks go in one fixed order, ask whether a metamorphic rock can melt.
When students get stuck
A student says metamorphic rocks are melted rock. Ask: If it melted, what would it be called? Fix: Magma. Metamorphic rocks change while solid, under heat and pressure.
A student says the rock cycle always goes igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic. Ask: Can an igneous rock be squashed and heated directly? Fix: Yes. Any rock type can become any other, so there are many pathways.
Stretch and support
Stretch: Choose a building stone near school. What is its type, how did it form, and why is it a good choice?
Support: Give a blank rock cycle diagram with the processes on cards to place.
Where it leads
Back in class: a rock sample investigation (hardness, grain size, fizzing with acid); a rock cycle role-play or poster.
What each step is for
Sedimentary rocks: Node 1: the formation sequence, properties that reflect it, and why fossils are found in sedimentary rock.
Metamorphic rocks: Node 3: heat and pressure without melting, banding, and parent to product.
The rock cycle: Node 4: two full pathways with processes named, timescales, and how plate tectonics drives the cycle.
Properties and uses: Node 5: properties come from formation and decide uses.
Now you can
Put sedimentary rock formation in order.
Say how metamorphic rock forms and give a parent and its product.
Trace a rock-cycle pathway and say how plate tectonics drives it.