Rock of Ages

Look at all the differently colored rocks we found in the creek bed. Pretty much all the colors of the rainbow are here...red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, and violet. Why are rocks so many different colors? It depends on what they are made of and how they were made.

There are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. "Ignis" is Latin for "fire."
Igneous rocks are made by volcanoes and magma. Magma is rock that is so hot, it has turned into a liquid. It's the red stuff that comes out of volcanoes. When liquid rock cools down, it turns into hard rock.

Sedimentary rock is made of sediment. Sediment is stuff that floats down through water and settles to the bottom of a lake or ocean. Sediment forms layers on the bottom. These layers are like layers of paint on your home or furniture. They build up over time. Over a long time, the layers form into one thick solid layer made of different colors. (See December 6).

Metamorphic rock is made when rocks go through more heat and pressure, so they change into something different. To make a tortilla, you have to start by mixing masa with water. Then you have to roll the mixture into a ball. Then you have to roll it flat. Then you have to heat it and it becomes a tortilla. To make metamorphic rock, you start out with one kind of rock. Then, over time, the earth squishes and heats the rock until it turns into something else. Limestone is a sedimentary rock that is made of coral, old shells, and skeletons. Over time, limestone gets heated and squished and it turns into marble. Marble is the very hard and heavy stone that builders use to make buildings. Artists use marble stone for statues.

The last picture is of a conglomerate. Conglomerate is a rock that is made up of little pieces of different rock sort of cemented together. It would be like you taking cookie dough and then adding M & M's, chocolate chips, and nuts to the dough, and then rolling it all into a ball.

Do you know anyone who has a diamond in his or her wedding ring? Can you believe that this diamond started out as charcoal???!!! I'm serious. Diamonds are made of carbon. Charcoal, or burned pieces of wood, are made of carbon. But a diamond is carbon that has been squished and heated up over millions, yes MILLIONS, of years.

What is a ruby? A sapphire? An emerald?

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