Mini Me Geology Blog » rock cycle

The Rock Cycle Kit has Arrived!

tracyb — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:51:25 +0000

Our newest kit has arrived!

The Rock Cycle Kit™ is Mini Me Geology’s newest kit which has 20 great samples of rocks and minerals. You will enjoy 5 minerals, 5 igneous rocks, 5 metamorphic rocks and 5 sedimentary rocks and a CD book full of information about how the rock cycle is constantly in motion. This kit is great for classrooms, home school and kids who are starting out in geology.

The kit includes:

· Calcite · Granite · Marble · Limestone

· Quartz · Basalt · Gneiss · Sandstone

· Feldspar · Gabbro · Amphibolite · Shale

· Pyroxene · Rhyolite · Quartzite · Arkose

· Mica · Syenite · Slate · Conglomerate

The included CD with PDF ebook has over 30 pages of information and activities about minerals, rocks and how the rock cycle affects our Earth! Shop now!

Ask-a-Geologist: Rock Types

tracyb — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:03:48 +0000

Question: What are the three big groups of rocks?

Answer: The three basic rock types are Igneous, Metamorphic and Sedimentary. See the article titled Geology is All Around You in the “Dig Into Geology” section of our website for more information on these rock types.

Look at this photo. Do you see the white rocks that look like they cut through the gray rock? These are igneous rocks that were probably injected from a magma source underground into the gray rock above, likely through cracks in the rocks. Rock formations can tell you a great deal of information about he history of an area.

Today we are Sedimentary Sleuthing!

tracyb — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:22:47 +0000

Teach your children about sedimentary rocks with this cool Sedimentary Sleuthing kit. Your kit comes complete with six cool sedimentary rock samples: lignite coal, sedimentary breccia, conglomerate, fossiliferous limestone, yellow sandstone and shale.

Also included in the kit is a hand magnifier and a CD with 30 pages of rock information, sample identification activities, puzzles, coloring pages, and experiments. Adult supervision is required for some of the experiments.

Other fun activities on the CD include creating your own adventure story, making a personal geologist’s field notebook and your very own rock collection box!

The CD requires free Adobe Reader 9.0 which can be downloaded at www.adobe.com. This software is easy to download and use so please use version 9.0 which makes the CD very fun to view! Mini CDs fit in center of tray disk drives. The Mini CD in the kit may not play in slot drives without an adapter. Consult computer manufacturer’s recommendations before inserting the mini CD into a slot drive.

The Rock Cycle – Dig Into Geology

tracyb — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:23:13 +0000

One of the most interesting topics in geology is the Rock Cycle. The Rock Cycle is the method by which minerals are made into sedimentary and igneous rocks, which are then made into metamorphic rocks. The cycle continues when all of these sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks break down into mineral and small rock pieces and form new rocks. Are you still wondering what I’m talking about? Here is an example: The mineral quartz makes up common beach sand. That beach sand will, over time, form into a sandstone sedimentary rock. When a sandstone is buried and heated it becomes a quartzite metamorphic rock. The sandstone and quartzite can either be buried, melted and formed into part of a new igneous rock, like granite, or it can breakdown and form a new sedimentary rock such as conglomerate.

For more great information rocks, minerals and geology, visit the Dig into Geology section of our website.