Compare igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, fossil formation, permeability and soil horizons. Review suitability for your learners before teaching.
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Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 7-9
Rocks, fossils & soil layers
Take your time. Show your thinking.
1. What is the dark, nutrient-rich organic material in topsoil formed from decomposed leaves, roots and animal remains: humus or magma?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
2. What is the difference between “weathering” and “erosion” of rocks: weathering is the breakdown of rock in place, whereas erosion is the wearing away and transport of rock fragments by water, wind or ice, or they mean melting?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
3. Why do pebbles on a beach or riverbed become smooth and rounded over time: waves and currents tumble the stones against each other, wearing off sharp corners by attrition and abrasion, or people polish every stone?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
4. Which of the three main rock groups forms when molten magma or lava cools and solidifies (such as granite and basalt): igneous rock or sedimentary rock?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
5. What do we call a rock that has tiny connected pores or spaces that allow water to soak and pass through it (such as sandstone or chalk): a permeable (porous) rock or an impermeable rock?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
6. How do earthworms help keep garden and farm soil healthy for plants: their burrows let air and rainwater reach roots, and their castings enrich the soil with nutrients, or they eat rocks into lava?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
7. What do gardeners call an ideal balanced soil that mixes sand, silt, clay and humus so it holds moisture and nutrients while still draining well: loam or gravel?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
8. What is soil made of: a mixture of weathered rock particles (sand, silt, clay), decaying organic matter (humus), water, air and living organisms, or pure crushed glass?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
9. Which rock group forms when existing rocks are changed by intense heat and pressure deep underground without completely melting (such as marble from limestone, or slate from shale): metamorphic rock or sedimentary rock?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
10. What is the solid, unweathered layer of rock that lies beneath the subsoil at the bottom of a soil profile: bedrock or topsoil?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
11. When fine-grained mudstone or shale is compressed by mountain-building forces, what metamorphic rock does it form that splits into flat, waterproof sheets used for roofing: slate or chalk?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
12. When water seeps into a crack in a rock, freezes into ice overnight and expands by about 9%, wedging the rock apart, what type of physical weathering is this: freeze-thaw (frost wedging) or photosynthesis?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
12 questions · Seed 104742 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
View the answer key
Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 7-9
Rocks, fossils & soil layers
Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.
1. What is the dark, nutrient-rich organic material in topsoil formed from decomposed leaves, roots and animal remains: humus or magma?
Humus
Humus retains moisture and supplies essential mineral nutrients to growing plant roots.
2. What is the difference between “weathering” and “erosion” of rocks: weathering is the breakdown of rock in place, whereas erosion is the wearing away and transport of rock fragments by water, wind or ice, or they mean melting?
Weathering is the breakdown of rock in place, whereas erosion is the wearing away and transport of rock fragments by water, wind or ice
Weathering breaks rock down in situ; erosion moves the loosened sediment away.
3. Why do pebbles on a beach or riverbed become smooth and rounded over time: waves and currents tumble the stones against each other, wearing off sharp corners by attrition and abrasion, or people polish every stone?
Waves and currents tumble the stones against each other, wearing off sharp corners by attrition and abrasion
Moving water knocks rock fragments together (attrition), rounding sharp edges into smooth pebbles and sand.
4. Which of the three main rock groups forms when molten magma or lava cools and solidifies (such as granite and basalt): igneous rock or sedimentary rock?
Igneous rock
Igneous rocks crystallise from molten rock either underground (magma) or on the surface (lava).
5. What do we call a rock that has tiny connected pores or spaces that allow water to soak and pass through it (such as sandstone or chalk): a permeable (porous) rock or an impermeable rock?
Permeable (porous) rock
Permeable rocks have interconnected pore spaces or fractures that let water percolate through.
6. How do earthworms help keep garden and farm soil healthy for plants: their burrows let air and rainwater reach roots, and their castings enrich the soil with nutrients, or they eat rocks into lava?
Their burrows let air and rainwater reach roots, and their castings enrich the soil with nutrients
Earthworms aerate the soil, improve drainage and recycle organic matter into plant nutrients.
7. What do gardeners call an ideal balanced soil that mixes sand, silt, clay and humus so it holds moisture and nutrients while still draining well: loam or gravel?
Loam
Loamy soil combines the good drainage of sand with the moisture and nutrient retention of silt, clay and humus.
8. What is soil made of: a mixture of weathered rock particles (sand, silt, clay), decaying organic matter (humus), water, air and living organisms, or pure crushed glass?
A mixture of weathered rock particles (sand, silt, clay), decaying organic matter (humus), water, air and living organisms
Healthy soil combines mineral particles from weathered rock with organic humus, air spaces and water.
9. Which rock group forms when existing rocks are changed by intense heat and pressure deep underground without completely melting (such as marble from limestone, or slate from shale): metamorphic rock or sedimentary rock?
Metamorphic rock
“Metamorphic” means changed in form; heat and pressure recrystallise minerals into a denser rock.
10. What is the solid, unweathered layer of rock that lies beneath the subsoil at the bottom of a soil profile: bedrock or topsoil?
Bedrock
Bedrock is the parent solid rock beneath loose soil and weathered regolith.
11. When fine-grained mudstone or shale is compressed by mountain-building forces, what metamorphic rock does it form that splits into flat, waterproof sheets used for roofing: slate or chalk?
Slate
Slate is a foliated, impermeable metamorphic rock that cleaves into flat tiles.
12. When water seeps into a crack in a rock, freezes into ice overnight and expands by about 9%, wedging the rock apart, what type of physical weathering is this: freeze-thaw (frost wedging) or photosynthesis?
Freeze-thaw (frost wedging)
Water expands as it freezes, exerting strong pressure that widens rock cracks over repeated cycles.
12 questions · Seed 104742 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 7-9
Rocks, fossils & soil layers
Take your time. Show your thinking.
1. What is the dark, nutrient-rich organic material in topsoil formed from decomposed leaves, roots and animal remains: humus or magma?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
2. What is the difference between “weathering” and “erosion” of rocks: weathering is the breakdown of rock in place, whereas erosion is the wearing away and transport of rock fragments by water, wind or ice, or they mean melting?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
3. Why do pebbles on a beach or riverbed become smooth and rounded over time: waves and currents tumble the stones against each other, wearing off sharp corners by attrition and abrasion, or people polish every stone?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
4. Which of the three main rock groups forms when molten magma or lava cools and solidifies (such as granite and basalt): igneous rock or sedimentary rock?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
5. What do we call a rock that has tiny connected pores or spaces that allow water to soak and pass through it (such as sandstone or chalk): a permeable (porous) rock or an impermeable rock?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
6. How do earthworms help keep garden and farm soil healthy for plants: their burrows let air and rainwater reach roots, and their castings enrich the soil with nutrients, or they eat rocks into lava?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
7. What do gardeners call an ideal balanced soil that mixes sand, silt, clay and humus so it holds moisture and nutrients while still draining well: loam or gravel?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
8. What is soil made of: a mixture of weathered rock particles (sand, silt, clay), decaying organic matter (humus), water, air and living organisms, or pure crushed glass?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
9. Which rock group forms when existing rocks are changed by intense heat and pressure deep underground without completely melting (such as marble from limestone, or slate from shale): metamorphic rock or sedimentary rock?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
10. What is the solid, unweathered layer of rock that lies beneath the subsoil at the bottom of a soil profile: bedrock or topsoil?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
11. When fine-grained mudstone or shale is compressed by mountain-building forces, what metamorphic rock does it form that splits into flat, waterproof sheets used for roofing: slate or chalk?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
12. When water seeps into a crack in a rock, freezes into ice overnight and expands by about 9%, wedging the rock apart, what type of physical weathering is this: freeze-thaw (frost wedging) or photosynthesis?
Topsoil → Subsoil → Bedrock
12 questions · Seed 104742 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 7-9
Rocks, fossils & soil layers
Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.
1. What is the dark, nutrient-rich organic material in topsoil formed from decomposed leaves, roots and animal remains: humus or magma?
Humus
Humus retains moisture and supplies essential mineral nutrients to growing plant roots.
2. What is the difference between “weathering” and “erosion” of rocks: weathering is the breakdown of rock in place, whereas erosion is the wearing away and transport of rock fragments by water, wind or ice, or they mean melting?
Weathering is the breakdown of rock in place, whereas erosion is the wearing away and transport of rock fragments by water, wind or ice
Weathering breaks rock down in situ; erosion moves the loosened sediment away.
3. Why do pebbles on a beach or riverbed become smooth and rounded over time: waves and currents tumble the stones against each other, wearing off sharp corners by attrition and abrasion, or people polish every stone?
Waves and currents tumble the stones against each other, wearing off sharp corners by attrition and abrasion
Moving water knocks rock fragments together (attrition), rounding sharp edges into smooth pebbles and sand.
4. Which of the three main rock groups forms when molten magma or lava cools and solidifies (such as granite and basalt): igneous rock or sedimentary rock?
Igneous rock
Igneous rocks crystallise from molten rock either underground (magma) or on the surface (lava).
5. What do we call a rock that has tiny connected pores or spaces that allow water to soak and pass through it (such as sandstone or chalk): a permeable (porous) rock or an impermeable rock?
Permeable (porous) rock
Permeable rocks have interconnected pore spaces or fractures that let water percolate through.
6. How do earthworms help keep garden and farm soil healthy for plants: their burrows let air and rainwater reach roots, and their castings enrich the soil with nutrients, or they eat rocks into lava?
Their burrows let air and rainwater reach roots, and their castings enrich the soil with nutrients
Earthworms aerate the soil, improve drainage and recycle organic matter into plant nutrients.
7. What do gardeners call an ideal balanced soil that mixes sand, silt, clay and humus so it holds moisture and nutrients while still draining well: loam or gravel?
Loam
Loamy soil combines the good drainage of sand with the moisture and nutrient retention of silt, clay and humus.
8. What is soil made of: a mixture of weathered rock particles (sand, silt, clay), decaying organic matter (humus), water, air and living organisms, or pure crushed glass?
A mixture of weathered rock particles (sand, silt, clay), decaying organic matter (humus), water, air and living organisms
Healthy soil combines mineral particles from weathered rock with organic humus, air spaces and water.
9. Which rock group forms when existing rocks are changed by intense heat and pressure deep underground without completely melting (such as marble from limestone, or slate from shale): metamorphic rock or sedimentary rock?
Metamorphic rock
“Metamorphic” means changed in form; heat and pressure recrystallise minerals into a denser rock.
10. What is the solid, unweathered layer of rock that lies beneath the subsoil at the bottom of a soil profile: bedrock or topsoil?
Bedrock
Bedrock is the parent solid rock beneath loose soil and weathered regolith.
11. When fine-grained mudstone or shale is compressed by mountain-building forces, what metamorphic rock does it form that splits into flat, waterproof sheets used for roofing: slate or chalk?
Slate
Slate is a foliated, impermeable metamorphic rock that cleaves into flat tiles.
12. When water seeps into a crack in a rock, freezes into ice overnight and expands by about 9%, wedging the rock apart, what type of physical weathering is this: freeze-thaw (frost wedging) or photosynthesis?
Freeze-thaw (frost wedging)
Water expands as it freezes, exerting strong pressure that widens rock cracks over repeated cycles.
12 questions · Seed 104742 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification