http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/rocks_soils.

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 Rocks are made of one or more minerals. There are three main classifications of
rock, based on the way the rock was formed: sedimentary, metamorphic and
igneous.

 Soil is formed of fine rock particles mixed with air, water and particles from dead
plant and animal matter. There are three main types of soil which are classified
according to the amount of sand and clay in them.

 Rocks and minerals are not the same thing. Minerals are made of a precise mix
of chemical ‘elements’ which are organised in a very specific way, while rocks are
made up of the small particles of one or more mineral. The minerals are the ‘ingredients’
of the rock.
 Obsidian is an igneous rock that is sometimes referred to as natural glass. It is
so sharp that it is used by surgeons in surgical scalpels. It is also often used, when
polished, in jewellery. Most gemstones that are used in jewellery are minerals rather
than rocks.

 Rock can be hard or soft and can be porous (has space for water to get in) or
non-porous (doesn’t have any spaces in it to let water in). We say that a rock
is permeable if it lets water in easily, or impermeable if it doesn’t let water in at all.

 Some rocks, like obsidian, are made from just one mineral. Other rocks are
made from two or more minerals – for example, granite is made from feldspar, mica and
quartz. Common minerals that form rocks include: feldspars, mica, quartz, calcite,
dolomite, amphiboles, pyroxene and olivine.

 Rocks are used for a range of purposes depending on their properties. For
example, granite is very hard and impermeable, so it is often used as a building
material; while chalk is a rock that wears down easily and so is used to write and draw
with. Clay is used to make things like pottery and crockery because it is malleable – we
can mould it.

 Sedimentary rocks are formed when small particles of mineral are washed
down river and are crushed and squashed at the bottom of a lake or sea while more
‘sediment’ is washed on top. This happens over millions of years. These rocks build up
in layers and often have the remains of living creatures and plants fossilised within them.
Examples of sedimentary rocks include sandstone, chalk, limestone and shale.
Sedimentary rocks are porous and can easily be weathered or worn down.

 Igneous rocks are formed from magma which is a hot, liquid found inside the
earth. This either cools and forms rocks under the earth’s surface, or flows out of
erupting volcanoes as lava and may mix with other minerals. It cools it forms new
rocks. Igneous rocks include granite, pumice and obsidian (often called nature’s glass).
Some igneous rocks are non-porous and impervious (like granite) because the particles
that make it are so tightly packed together.

 Metamorphic rocks are formed when rocks become warm enough to bend or
mould but not hot enough to turn into a liquid. Marble is a metamorphic rock formed
when limestone becomes heated and squashed. Slate is also metamorphic and is
formed from shale. Metamorphic rocks can sometimes form interesting shapes
depending on how they have been ‘moulded’.

 Rocks are weathered physically (by sun or heat and cold), biologically (by
animals and plants) and chemically (by rain that contains chemicals that break the rocks
down).

 Erosion is the movement of rock fragments after weathering. Once rock has
been eroded it gets washed away and may start to reform new sedimentary rocks.
These sedimentary rocks can be change into metamorphic or igneous rocks after a long
time, before the process of weathering starts again. This is called the rock cycle.

 The type of soil found in any specific area is determined by the types of rock
found in that region. The soil is a combination of a range of ingredients that include
fine ground up pieces of rock; particles from dead plants and animals; air and soil. It is
the amounts of each, in combination with the rock type and proportions of sand and clay
that determines which soil type it is. There are three main categories of soil: sandy,
clay or loam. Sandy soil is a dry soil with lots of air in it. Clay soil is sticky and doesn’t
have much air in it. It tends to hold a lot of water. Loam soil is somewhere between clay
and sand and so holds a bit of water, but not too much, and has a fair bit of air in it.
Loam soil is generally the best type of soil for growing plants in.
 Soil is also layered. If you dig right down you might go through six different layers,
the last of which would be rock (often called bedrock). The first layer (O) is mainly
organic matter – dead and decaying bits of plant and animal, while the second layer (A)
is the topsoil. Topsoil is the part that we dig into in order to plant things. Then we find
subsoil (B), before hitting the bedrock (R). A soil sample that shows all of these layers
(known as horizons) is called a soil profile.

 Plants generally need soil to help them grow as it provides them with nutrients,
air and water, as well as something the plants can anchor their roots into. The type of
soil found in an area will determine which plants will grow naturally and thrive and those
that won’t. Specific plants will grow best in specific soil – for example yukka plants like
clay soils while lavender likes sandy soils. Most plants will grow well in a loam soil.

 Soils also provide a home (or habitat) for a range of creatures. Earthworms and
many bugs live in the soil while rabbits and moles, for example, dig their homes
underground in the soil. Earthworms are important in the maintenance of soil as they
aerate it (add air to it).

1. The chalks that you draw and write with are made from limestone.
2. Pumice rock is so full of air that it floats.