Science · Stage 6

Rocks and the Rock Cycle

Igneous rock cools from melted rock, sedimentary rock is pressed from layers, and metamorphic rock is changed by heat and pressure — and over a very long time, weathering, erosion and heat keep turning one kind of rock into another.

✦ Science📘 Stage 6 · S6⏱ ~12 min🧒 Ages 10–12★ Free to start

I can describe rock types, weathering and erosion, how fossils form, soil, and the rock cycle.

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Kavi the Rock Detective

Kavi picks up three stones and turns them over in her wings 🪨. "Every rock has a story! This one cooled from melted rock — that makes it igneous. This one is pressed layers of old sand and shells — that is sedimentary, and it might even hide a fossil 🦴. And this shiny one was squeezed and heated deep underground until it changed — that is metamorphic. Rain and rivers wear rocks down and carry the bits away, and over millions of years one kind of rock slowly becomes another. Come read the rocks with me!"

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What your child will learn

1One rock can become another — round and roundRocks are not fixed forever. Over a very long time, melting, cooling, weathering, pressing and heating turn one kind of rock into another. Tap each step and watch the cycle go round.

2Three kinds of rock — and what else the ground holdsThere are three big families of rock, sorted by HOW they formed. The ground also holds fossils and soil. Tap each part to learn what it is.

3Weathering vs erosion — breaking down vs carrying awayPeople mix these two up, but they are different jobs. Tap each card.

4Your turn: read the rocksThink like a geologist — guess first, then tap to check! Tap Next test for more.

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A peek inside

Kavi finds a rock made of hard, pressed layers, and inside one layer is the clear shape of an old shell 🦴. Which of the three rock types is it, and how did the shell get there?

Pressed layers tell me this is a sedimentary rock — it formed as sand, mud and shells settled and were squeezed together over a long time. A fossil forms the same way: the shell was buried in the sediment, and its shape was kept as the layers hardened into rock. Fossils are found in sedimentary rock, never in igneous rock, because magma's heat would destroy them.

Try this at home: A rock that cooled and hardened from melted rock is which type?

Ready to play and learn?

Start the free interactive lesson, or print the handout for screen-free play.

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Part of Science · Stage 6 · S6 on KAVI Academy — a secular, whole-child learning platform for ages 5–12.