Minerals and the Mohs scale
Which scratches which, identifying samples by streak, lustre and hardness, and scratch tests with a fingernail, a coin or glass.
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Teaching guide: rocks, minerals and plate tectonics
This geology worksheet generator makes A4 exercises on minerals and the Mohs scale, igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, the rock cycle, the layers of the Earth and plate tectonics, always with an answer key. Every worksheet is different.
- For
- Elementary 6th · Middle & High 7th, 8th, 9th (ages 11-14)
- Subject
- Natural Sciences › Geology
- Includes
- Student sheet and answer key
- Format
- A4, to print or save as PDF; new exercises every time
- Price
- Free, no sign-up
- Available in
- Catalan, Spanish, English
Student worksheet 
Answer key Types of rock
Igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic: what they are like, how they form and which rock marble or slate comes from.
The rock cycle
A diagram with arrows to label weathering, compaction, heat and pressure, melting and cooling.
Layers of the Earth
Crust, mantle and core in a section, and the thickness of each layer worked out from a table of depths.
Plate tectonics
Divergent, convergent and transform boundaries in cross-sections, what forms there, real places and how fast plates move.
Answer key
Every answer comes from the data of each mineral, rock, layer and boundary.
Questions about the geology worksheets
Which grades are they for?
Level 1 suits grades 6 and 7, level 2 grades 7 and 8 and level 3 grade 9 (KS3 Earth science).
How do you identify a mineral with the table?
Each sample gives three clues (streak, lustre, whether a fingernail or glass scratches it, whether a magnet attracts it…). Only one mineral in the table fits them all.
Why are the tools’ hardnesses 2.5, 3.5, 5.5 and 6.5?
They are the textbook values for a fingernail, a copper coin, glass and a steel knife. A sheet only uses a tool when the mineral is clearly harder or softer.
Are the depths of the layers exact?
They are rounded textbook values: crust to 35 km, mantle to 2,900 km, outer core to 5,100 km and a radius of 6,370 km.
Which other worksheets go well with these?
How do I print only the answer key?
Click Print and choose “Answer key”, or “Worksheet and answer key” for both.
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