Chapter 7 Study Guide

Rocks
A rock is a natural, solid, nonliving material made of one or more minerals.
There are three types of rocks:
Igneous rocks form from melted rock. Igneous means from fire.
Sedimentary rocks form in layers from tiny pieces of other rocks.
Sedimentary rocks are where we find fossils most of the time.
Metamorphic rocks have been changed from a different kind of rock. The
change comes from heat or pressure.
Minerals
A mineral is a natural material that forms from nonliving matter.
We can use minerals for everyday activities like brushing our teeth (fluorite),
cooking our food (copper), fixing things with tools (iron), and even seasoning our
food (halite which can be ground into salt)
Some minerals are found in our food like calcium, chromium, potassium, and
sodium
Soil
Soil is the thin layer of loose material that covers most of the Earths land. Soil
takes a long time to build up--hundreds of years!
Soil includes plants or animals that have decayed. These things put nutrients in the
soil.
The decayed parts of plant and animal remains are called humus

There are three layers of soil:

Topsoil- this is the top layer which is normally dark in color
Subsoil- this is the layer under topsoil which is often lighter in color
Bedrock- this is the very bottom layer which provides raw material for
making new soil
There are three main types of soil: sand, silt, and clay
Soil has four main ingredients: water, air, minerals, and humus.
Physical properties
Rocks and Minerals are identified by their physical properties:

Color- what color an object has

Luster- how shiny or dull something is
Hardness- how easily a subject can break
Texture- how something feels when you touch it
Shape- how the object looks