Unit 4:  Rock Forming Processes

Big Idea:  Understanding natural processes and Earth materials allows Earth  history to be discerned.
Learning Targets:

  • E3.p1A - I can explain the origin of Michigan landforms.  Describe and identify surface features using maps and satellite images.
  • E3.p1B - I can explain how physical and chemical weathering leads to erosion and the formation of soils and sediments.
  • E3.p1C - I can describe how coastal features are formed by wave erosion and deposition.
  • E3.p2A - I can identify common rock-forming minerals (quartz, feldspar, biotite, calcite, hornblende).
  • E3.p2B - I can identify common igneous (granite, basalt, andesite, obsidian, pumice), metamorphic (schist, gneiss, marble, slate, quartzite), and sedimentary (sandstone, limestone, shale, conglomerate) rocks and describe the process that change one kind of rock to another.
  • E3.1A - I can discriminate between igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks and describe the process that change one kind of rock to another.
  • E3.1B - I can explain the relationship between the rock cycle and plate tectonics theory in regard to the origins of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.
  • E3.1c - I can explain how the size and shape of grains in a sedimentary rock indicate the environment of formation (including climate) and deposition.
  • E3.1d - I can explain how crystal sizes of igneous rocks indicate the rate of cooling and whether the rock is extrusive or intrusive.
  • E3.1e - I can explain how the texture (foliated, non foliated) of metamorphic rock can indicate whether it has experienced regional or contact metamorphism.