Rocks and Minerals - GeorgiaStandards.org

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Georgia Performance Standards Framework for Science – Grade 6
Unit Organizer: Geology – Rocks and Minerals
(Approximate Time: 7 Weeks)
OVERVIEW: The rock cycle, which is continual in nature, explains the formation of minerals and rocks. Fossils provide evidence of
constant environmental change.
STANDARDS ADDRESSED IN THIS UNIT
Focus Standards:
S6E5. Students will investigate the scientific view of how the earth’s surface is formed.
b. Investigate the contribution of minerals to rock composition.
c. Classify rocks by their process of formation.
g. Describe how fossils show evidence of the changing surface and climate of the Earth.
d. Students will describe various sources of energy and with their uses and conservation.
b. Identify renewable and nonrenewable resources.
Supporting Standards:
S6E5. Students will investigate the scientific view of how the earth’s surface is formed.
a. Compare and contrast the Earth’s crust, mantle, and core including temperature, density, and composition.
d. Describe processes that change rocks and the surface of the earth.
f. Explain the effects of physical processes (plate tectonics, erosion, deposition, volcanic eruption, gravity) on geological features
including oceans (composition, currents, and tides).
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Unit Organizer: Geology – Rocks and Minerals
January 2007 • Page 1 of 7
Copyright 2007 © All Rights Reserved

One Stop Shop For Educators
Georgia Performance Standards Framework for Science – Grade 6
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS
Students will understand that:
Many materials used by people come from rocks and minerals.
Rocks are classified based on how they formed and their mineral composition.
Sedimentary rocks are formed by the ongoing deposition of rocks and other sediments that are cemented together.
Fossils, the remains of organisms preserved in sedimentary rocks, are part of the evidence scientists use to infer changing conditions at the
Earth’s surface through time
Rocks at the Earth’s surface weather, forming sediments that are buried, then compacted, heated, and often recrystallized into new rock.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
Topical Essential Questions:
How are minerals identified?
How are rocks formed?
How are rocks classified?
How can rocks change from one type to another?
Is the rock cycle really a cycle? Explain your answer.
How do natural objects compare to manufactured objects?
How are rocks and minerals used by 6 th graders?
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Unit Organizer: Geology – Rocks and Minerals
January 2007 • Page 2 of 7
Copyright 2007 © All Rights Reserved

One Stop Shop For Educators
Georgia Performance Standards Framework for Science – Grade 6
KNOWLEDGE:
Sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic, rock composition, mineral formation, pressure, rock cycle,
Minerals can be identified by their physical properties.
Igneous rocks are dominated by silicate minerals.
Rocks are composed of minerals. Minerals are the building blocks of rocks.
The rock cycle explains how one rock type can be transformed into another. This process is continuing today.
Magma cools and crystallizes to form igneous rock.
Igneous rock undergoes weathering (or breakdown) to form sediment. The sediment is transported and deposited somewhere (such as at
the beach or in a delta, or in the deep sea).
Usually after burial, the deposited sediment undergoes lithification (the processes that turn it into a rock). This includes cementation and
compaction.
If the sedimentary rock is buried deep in the crust under more and more sediment, often due to plate tectonic movements, the heat and
pressure causes metamorphism to occur. This transforms the sedimentary rock into a metamorphic rock.
As the metamorphic rock is buried more deeply, temperatures and pressures continue to rise. If the temperature becomes hot enough, the
metamorphic rock undergoes melting. The molten rock is called magma. This completes the cycle.
Any rock type can undergo weathering to form sediment. Igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks undergo weathering.
Igneous rocks can undergo metamorphism (as a result of heat and pressure) to form metamorphic rocks.
CONCEPTS:
Processes that form the Earth/rocks, evidence of change
LANGUAGE:
Sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic, rock composition, mineral formation, pressure, rock cycle
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Unit Organizer: Geology – Rocks and Minerals
January 2007 • Page 3 of 7
Copyright 2007 © All Rights Reserved

One Stop Shop For Educators
Georgia Performance Standards Framework for Science – Grade 6
MISCONCEPTIONS :
All rocks are the same and it's hard to tell how they originated.
Rocks and minerals are the same thing and distinguishing them is not
important.
Humans can fabricate rocks and minerals; artifacts are the same as
rocks or minerals.
You can test the hardness of a mineral (such as a diamond) by hitting
it with a hammer.
The Stone Mountain granite underlies all of Georgia, or underlies
several states.
Minerals are not important to my life.
All rocks are the same and it’s hard to tell how they originated.
Rocks and minerals are the same thing and distinguishing them is not
important.
Human’s can fabricate rocks and minerals; artifacts are the same as
rocks or minerals.
PROPER CONCEPTIONS
Rocks can be distinguished into many different types, based on their
origins and compositions.
Rocks and minerals are not the same thing; rocks are composed of
minerals which are naturally existing chemical compounds.
Rocks and minerals are naturally occurring substances that are usually
crystalline and solid.
Hardness is tested by scratching.
The Stone Mountain granite is a relatively small granite pluton that
covers an area less than a county in size.
Almost every product we use in daily life contains depends on
minerals that have to be mined.
Rocks can be distinguished into many different types, based on their
origins and compositions.
Rocks and minerals are not the same thing; rocks are composed of
minerals which are naturally existing chemical compounds.
Rocks and minerals are naturally occurring substances that are usually
crystalline and solid.
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Unit Organizer: Geology – Rocks and Minerals
January 2007 • Page 4 of 7
Copyright 2007 © All Rights Reserved

One Stop Shop For Educators
Georgia Performance Standards Framework for Science – Grade 6
EVIDENCE OF LEARNING:
By the conclusion of this unit, students should be able to demonstrate the following competencies:
Culminating Activity:
Rocks And Minerals Culminating Activities
Goal: Plan and describe a rock, mineral, and fossil collection which could be made from materials in your county plus two other selected
Georgia counties.
Role: A middle school student called on to assist in developing a collection.
Audience: Your school science department.
Situation: Your teacher needs a class set of teaching specimens of 8 different rock types (including sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic
examples), 4 fossils representing a variety of ages and environments of origin, and 1 nonrenewable energy resource. Using the Lawton (1977)
Geologic Map of Georgia, you will determine the extent to which these needs can be supplied from your own county. Then identify two other
counties from which samples would allow you to complete the collection.
Product: A description of the items in the proposed collection and the county of origin of each. For each rock, provide information on the
minerals that make it up, as well as how it formed as an igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic rock. For each fossil, tell how old it is and in
what kind of environment the organism lived. For the energy resource, explain how it formed and why it is considered nonrenewable.
Standard: See rubric
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Unit Organizer: Geology – Rocks and Minerals
January 2007 • Page 5 of 7
Copyright 2007 © All Rights Reserved

One Stop Shop For Educators
Georgia Performance Standards Framework for Science – Grade 6
Geology
Rocks and Minerals
GRASPS – Rubric
Scientific
Information
Rock
processes of
formation
Mineral
composition
of rocks
Fossils as
evidence of
change
Renewable
and nonrenewable
energy
Description of each rock’s
origin is detailed and
substantially accurate.
The project provides
substantially accurate
information on the mineral
composition of every rock in
the collection.
4 3 2 1
All fossils are correct as to age
and location. The description
of the environment contains
some detail and is
substantially accurate.
The project accurately
describes the location and
formation of Georgia’s nonrenewable
energy resource.
The igneous, sedimentary,
or metamorphic origin of
each rock is correct, and
there is some additional
accurate description of the
rocks’ origins.
The project accurately
identifies at least one
mineral in each rock in the
collection.
All fossils are listed
correctly as to age,
location and marine or
terrestrial origin, but no
further accurate details are
given.
The project correctly
identifies the resource and
contains some accurate
details as to its formation
and location.
The igneous, sedimentary, or
metamorphic origin of each
rock is correct, but there is
little or no additional accurate
description of the rocks’
origins.
The project contains some
accurate information on the
mineral composition of rocks
in the collection.
All fossils are listed, but there
are inaccuracies in location,
age, or marine or terrestrial
origin.
The project does not correctly
identify Georgia’s nonrenewable
energy resource or
fails to describe its formation.
Fewer than 8 rocks are
named, or the igneous,
sedimentary, or
metamorphic origin of
one or more rocks is
incorrect.
The project does not
contain accurate
information on the
mineral composition of
any rock in the
collection.
Fewer than four fossils
are listed, or none of the
fossils is correctly
tagged as to marine or
terrestrial origin.
The project does not
accurately name a nonrenewable
energy
resource.
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Unit Organizer: Geology – Rocks and Minerals
January 2007 • Page 6 of 7
Copyright 2007 © All Rights Reserved

One Stop Shop For Educators
Georgia Performance Standards Framework for Science – Grade 6
TASKS
The collection of the following tasks represents the level of depth, rigor and complexity expected of all physical science students to
demonstrate evidence of learning.
Task:
Description:
Discussion, Suggestions for use:
Possible Solution :
SAMPLE OF STUDENT WORK
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Unit Organizer: Geology – Rocks and Minerals
January 2007 • Page 7 of 7
Copyright 2007 © All Rights Reserved