Grade 4 · Science · Unit 1 of 8
Rocks & Minerals
How rocks form, how to test minerals and what New Brunswick’s rocks tell us.
What your child practises
Practises the Earth's crust, rocks and minerals, with examples from New Brunswick such as the Hopewell Rocks and Stonehammer Geopark. It follows the Grade 4 science skill descriptors on investigating rocks and minerals in the New Brunswick curriculum.
New Brunswick Curriculum skill descriptor: Scientific Literacy: Investigation · planning investigations and collecting data about the Earth's crust, rocks and minerals
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
What is lustre?
- how heavy it is
- how cold it is
- how hard it is
- how a mineral shines in the light
how a mineral shines in the light
Hint: Metals have a shiny lustre.
Question 2
What is a mineral?
- a drink
- a living plant
- a kind of soil
- a solid, natural substance that is not alive and has a set makeup
a solid, natural substance that is not alive and has a set makeup
Hint: Quartz and salt are minerals.
Question 3
What is a fossil?
- a new plant
- a toy
- the remains or print of a living thing from long ago
- a mineral
the remains or print of a living thing from long ago
Hint: Fossils help us learn about the past.
Question 4
Which of these is an igneous rock?
- sandstone
- shale
- granite
- limestone
granite
Hint: Granite has visible crystals.
Question 5
What does hardness tell you about a mineral?
- what colour it is
- how old it is
- how heavy it is
- how easily it can be scratched
how easily it can be scratched
Hint: A harder mineral scratches a softer one.
Question 6
How can you tell sandstone from granite?
- they are exactly the same
- granite floats
- sandstone has grains stuck together, and granite has crystals
- sandstone is always red
sandstone has grains stuck together, and granite has crystals
Hint: Looking closely helps sort rocks.