Grade 6 · Earth's Systems · Rocks, Minerals and Soil
Rocks, Minerals and the Rock Cycle
Investigate how minerals build rocks, how the three rock families form, and how Earth materials are recycled over millions of years.
Learning objectives
- Distinguish between a mineral and a rock.
- Describe how igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks form.
- Model the rock cycle using energy from inside and outside Earth.
- Explain how rock evidence tells us about past environments.
NGSS alignment
MS-ESS1-2
Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.
MS-ESS2-1
Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
MS-ESS2-4
Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
MS-ESS3-1
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.
MS-ESS3-5
Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
MYP criteria
- Criterion A — Knowing and Understanding
- Criterion C — Processing and Evaluating
- Criterion D — Reflecting on the Impacts of Science
ENGAGE
Start here
EXPLAIN
Minerals, rocks and the cycle
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid with a definite chemical composition, such as quartz or calcite. A rock is a mixture of one or more minerals.
Three rock families
| Family | How it forms | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Igneous | Molten rock cools and crystallises | Basalt, granite |
| Sedimentary | Sediment settles, is buried and cemented | Limestone, sandstone |
| Metamorphic | Heat and pressure change existing rock without melting it | Marble, schist |
The rock cycle
Energy from Earth's interior (mantle convection, radioactive decay) plus energy from the Sun (weathering, erosion, transport) recycles rock materials continuously. No stage is an endpoint: a marble step can be weathered into sand, buried, and cemented into new sandstone.
Common misconception
Rocks are not permanent. Over millions of years the same atoms move through igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic forms many times.
Key vocabulary
- Rock cycle
- The way rock material keeps changing between igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic forms.
- Mineral
- A natural solid with its own chemical recipe and crystal shape.
Practice questions
0/1 correct
Level 2 · Criterion A
Limestone full of shell fragments most likely formed in which environment?
Reflect & track
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