Unit Question Homework Assignment

Respond to only ONE of the following questions.  Please publish your own post when responding to this question (and label it "Unit Question").

Question 1:
Scenario: a friend of yours hands you hunk of something hard that they found and call it a ‘rock.'  S/he wants you to identify it because your are currently taking geoscience. Write a two to three paragraph narrative discussing how you would explain to your friend the steps you and s/he could follow to identify this hunk of material. Assume that you are writing this narrative for your friend.
      1. Is this material a mineral or a rock? How would you explain to your friend how to tell the difference between a mineral and rock? Address this question in the first paragraph of your discussion.

       2. In a short paragraph, discuss what you see as some potential stumbling blocks younger students might encounter in trying to tell a mineral apart from a rock. What tips might you recommend for insuring that these students can tell minerals apart from rocks?

Question 2:
It is generally true that the more ancient rocks (i.e. Precambrian) are less widely found exposed at the Earth’s surface and that their geologic histories are more difficult to interpret. Consider why this should be so in the context of the Rock Cycle.