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This Month's Featured Rock:
AZURITE
Azurite is a beautiful, deep blue colored mineral. Relatively soft, azurite has a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale. The deep blue color in its natural form and its light blue colored streak are strong identifying properties of the mineral. Azurite is a copper carbonate mineral and often occurs with the bright green mineral Malachite in copper veins. Crystals of azurite often occur in prismatic forms or in a round mass. Uses for the mineral azurite include dyes and paint pigments, beads and jewelry. Beautiful samples of azurite can be found in France, Africa, Greece and the United States.
Click here to get your own azurite sample! |
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April's Featured Item:
MY ROCKIN' COLLECTION!
MINERALS
Spark a child's interest in the Earth with this collection of 15 fantastic minerals. Each kit includes a white streak plate, black streak plate, hand magnifier, and identification cards which include a photo and fun mineral facts for each sample. Kids can try to identify each mineral using the streak plates, hand magnifier, and identification cards. But, if they need a hint, the name of each mineral is beneath the foam padding. Details on how to use you the streak plates, hand magnifier, ID cards and a special identification chart are available for download at the "Dig Into Geology" section of our website.
Click here to get your own Mineral Collection!
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April's Word Find Puzzle
 Did you know that Mini Me Geology offers free word find puzzles and cross-word puzzles? Just click here and print your favorite puzzles! We will post a new puzzle each month. In celebration of this diamond month, this month's puzzle is all about gemstones. Grab a crayon and see if you can find all of the words.
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Hello Kids & Parents! ,
Welcome to The Rockland Gazette! Each month we provide you with feautures about rocks and minerals and geology fun. We hope you enjoy this month's newsletter!
Sincerely,
The Mini Me Geology Team! |
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Ah, the weather. Rain, wind, snow, ice, heat and cold all affect the nature and appearance of the Earth's exposed rocks. Rocks and minerals that are out in the open over time will change the way they look due to the weather. The heat and cold will make the rocks expand and contract which can cause cracking and flaking. The rain, wind, snow and ice will cause sharp points to wear away and the surface of the rock to appear dull. When you come upon a rock and want to get a good look at it, you will need to use a rock hammer (or similar item) to break the rock and collect a small piece. Look at the surface that was not exposed to the weather to see the true characteristics of the rock.
This photo of a massive chalk deposit shows the affects of weathering. As you can see the chalk rock is severely cracked and worn from exposure to the weather.
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Kids' Experiment on Weathering Hey Kids! Try this fun experiment to learn more about the weathering of rocks. You will need:
ó Plastic Wrap
ó Clay
ó A little Water
ó Notebook
ó Camera (optional)
Step 1: Take the water and moisten the clay a little bit.
Step 2: Divide the clay into two equal pieces and roll it into a ball or form into a square.
Step 3: Wrap each piece of clay in plastic wrap.
Step 4: Place one piece of clay into the freezer and leave the other piece on your table or counter. Let the clay stay in the freezer overnight.
Step 5: The next day, take the clay out of the freezer and unwrap both pieces.
Observe:
Do the clay pieces look different? If so, how? Hint: the clay from the freezer should have the some cracks. Examine the clay with a hand magnifier to get a closer look at the cracks. Write about your findings in a notebook and take pictures if you want.
Then, wrap each clay piece back up and put the one piece back into the freezer and repeat for several days. Observe the clay pieces each day and see how the cracks change over time. You are now a true Mini Me Geologist! | |
April Birthstone - Diamond
Did you know that pencil lead and diamonds are made of the same thing? It is hard to believe but they are both made of carbon! The carbon forms in different crystal types or shapes, which is why they are different. Diamond is the hardest mineral, being a 10 on the Mohs hardness scale. 
Diamonds are found in igneous rocks called Kimberlites, which are formed deep underground (between 90 and 280 miles below the surface of the Earth). This photo shows cores of kimberlite rock from a drilling event. Rock cores are stored in core boxes for examination.
 The largest diamond ever found is over 7,000 carats which is about the size of your two fists put together. Because of their beauty and strength, diamonds are used for a wide variety of products from jewelry to industrial cutting blades. This photo shows a group of different sized diamonds which have been cut and faceted.
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March's Featured Ask-a-Geologist Questions
Q: What are the three big groups of rocks?
A: The three basic rock types are Igneous, Metamorphic and Sedimentary. See the article titled Geology is All Around You in the "Dig Into Geology" section of our website for more information on these rock types.
Q: What are some household items made out of igneous rock?
A: Many building materials are made of granite such as counter tops in homes. Pumice is also used in products such pumice stones which are used to smooth rough feet and in Lava Soap which is used to remove grease from hands.
Q: Name four kinds of igneous rocks.
A: You can look through the "Igneous Rocks" link on the left side of our website and find the ones you like best!
Q: What is obsidian rock used for?
A: In ancient times, obsidian was used to made crude knives and tools. Today, obsidian is used in the production of rock wool, knives and jewelry.
Q: How could mineral hardness be used to tell quartzite from marble?
A: I don't know that hardness would be a good test since both of these rocks have undergone metamorphism. In theory, quartzite should be harder because it is made of Quartz which has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale and Marble is made of calcite which is has a hardness of 3 on Mohs scale. The best test is the "fizz test." If you drop a dilute acid on the rocks, the marble will bubble or fizz. You can use vinegar since it is a very weak acid and see if you can observe the fizz. Anything made of calcite should fizz but
quartz will not.
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