IGNEOUS ROCKS
1. What is the main way igneous rocks are formed?
a) By heat and pressure on existing rocks
b) From layers of sediment cemented together
c) From the cooling and solidification of molten rock
d) From the remains of plants and animals
Answer: c
2. What is the name for molten rock found beneath the Earth's surface?
a) Lava
b) Magma
c) Sediment
d) Obsidian
Answer: b
3. What is the name for molten rock that erupts onto the Earth's surface?
a) Magma
b) Granite
c) Lava
d) Pumice
Answer: c
4. Which of these is an igneous rock that forms from lava cooling quickly?
a) Granite
b) Basalt
c) Limestone
d) Marble
Answer: c
5. Igneous rocks that form from magma cooling slowly underground usually have...
a) No crystals
b) Large, visible crystals
c) Layers or fossils
d) A glassy texture
Answer: b
6. Which igneous rock is light in colour, has large crystals, and is often used for kitchen worktops?
a) Basalt
b) Pumice
c) Granite
d) Obsidian
Answer: c
9. Which of these is a dark-coloured, fine-grained igneous rock that forms from lava?
a) Granite
b) Sandstone
c) Basalt
d) Slate
Answer: c
11. What do we call an igneous rock that forms below the Earth's surface?
a) Extrusive
b) Sedimentary
c) Metamorphic
d) Intrusive
Answer: d
12. What do we call an igneous rock that forms on the Earth's surface from lava?
a) Intrusive
b) Extrusive
c) Metamorphic
d) Clastic
Answer: b
13. Which property is MOST useful for identifying an igneous rock?
a) The presence of fossils
b) Its crystal size and texture
c) If it fizzes in acid
d) If it splits into layers
Answer: b
14. Which of these pairs are BOTH igneous rocks?
a) Granite and Basalt
b) Limestone and Chalk
c) Marble and Slate
d) Sandstone and Conglomerate
Answer: a
16. What is the main process that creates the different types of igneous rocks?
a) Erosion
b) Cooling rate
c) Compression
d) Cementation
Answer: b
17. Which feature would you NOT expect to find in an igneous rock?
a) Crystals
b) Gas bubbles
c) Fossils
d) A glassy surface
Answer: c
18. Scoria is a dark, vesicular rock. What does "vesicular" mean?
a) Very heavy
b) Containing fossils
c) Full of holes from gas bubbles
d) Made of fine sand
Answer: c
19. Where would you most likely find a new igneous rock forming?
a) At the bottom of a river
b) Near an active volcano
c) In a desert
d) On a mountain peak made of older rock
Answer: b
20. Which statement about igneous rocks is TRUE?
a) They are always light in colour.
b) They can help us understand what happens inside the Earth.
c) They are the only type of rock that contains crystals.
d) They always form on the surface.
Answer: b
21. What is the scientific name for a rock that has formed from cooled magma or lava?
a) Sedimentary Rock
b) Igneous Rock
c) Metamorphic Rock
d) Fossil Rock
Answer: b
22. If you find a rock with very tiny crystals that you can barely see, where did it MOST LIKELY form?
a) Deep inside the Earth, cooling very slowly
b) On the Earth's surface, cooling very quickly
c) At the bottom of a lake
d) Under great heat and pressure
Answer: b
24. Why does obsidian have a smooth, glassy texture?
a) It cooled very slowly, allowing huge crystals to form.
b) It cooled so fast that crystals did not have time to form.
c) It was formed under tremendous pressure.
d) It is made from the shells of sea creatures.
Answer: b
27. How are granite and basalt SIMILAR?
a) They are the same colour.
b) They both form from lava on the surface.
c) They are both igneous rocks.
d) They both have very large crystals.
Answer: c
28. How are granite and basalt DIFFERENT?
a) Granite forms underground, basalt forms on the surface.
b) Granite is igneous, basalt is sedimentary.
c) Granite has no crystals, basalt has large crystals.
d) Granite is always darker than basalt.
Answer: a
29. What is the most common intrusive igneous rock found in the continental crust (the land part of Earth's crust)?
a) Basalt
b) Obsidian
c) Granite
d) Gabbro
Answer: c
30. If magma cools and crystallises to form rock, the different minerals in the magma form the rock's...
a) Layers
b) Fossils
c) Crystals
d) Cement
Answer: c
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
1. How are MOST sedimentary rocks formed?
a) Cooling of lava
b) Heat and pressure
c) Cementation of layers of sediment
d) Melting of minerals
Answer: c
2. What is the process called when wind, water, or ice break down rocks into smaller pieces?
a) Erosion
b) Deposition
c) Weathering
d) Compaction
Answer: c
3. What is the name for small pieces of rock, sand, shell, or other material that have been moved and dropped in a new place?
a) Magma
b) Crystals
c) Sediment
d) Minerals
Answer: c
4. What is the process called when sediment is dropped and builds up in layers?
a) Weathering
b) Erosion
c) Deposition
d) Crystallisation
Answer: c
5. Over a very long time, layers of sediment get squashed together. What is this process called?
a) Cementation
b) Compaction
c) Melting
d) Erosion
Answer: b
6. What is the process called when minerals dissolved in water glue the sediment grains together?
a) Compaction
b) Cementation
c) Weathering
d) Deposition
Answer: b
7. Which of these rocks is a sedimentary rock?
a) Granite
b) Slate
c) Sandstone
d) Marble
Answer: c
8. What is the main material that Limestone is made from?
a) Mud
b) Shells
c) Sand grains
d) Plant remains
Answer: b
9. Which rock is made from compacted mud or clay and often splits into thin layers?
a) Chalk
b) Shale
c) Conglomerate
d) Sandstone
Answer: b
10. What is the main material that sandstone is made from?
a) Mud
b) Shells
c) Sand grains
d) Plant remains
Answer: c
11. Chalk is a type of limestone. What is it mostly made from?
a) Sand from deserts
b) Tiny skeletons of sea creatures
c) Pebbles from rivers
d) Mud from lakes
Answer: b
12. Which sedimentary rock often contains fossils?
a) Granite
b) Basalt
c) Limestone
d) Obsidian
Answer: c
13. Why are sedimentary rocks the main type of rock where fossils are found?
a) They form at very high temperatures.
b) They are the hardest rocks.
c) They form in layers where dead plants/animals can be buried and preserved.
d) They are the only transparent rocks.
Answer: c
14. What might you find in coal, which is a sedimentary rock?
a) Fish bones
b) Dinosaur footprints
c) Preserved plant material
d) Seashells
Answer: c
15. What feature of many sedimentary rocks is easiest to see with your eyes?
a) Crystals
b) Layers or strata
c) Gas bubbles
d) A glassy surface
Answer: b
16. What is the name for the visible layers in rocks like sandstone?
a) Crystals
b) Strata
c) Veins
d) Fossils
Answer: b
17. Which of these is an organic sedimentary rock (formed from living things)?
a) Conglomerate
b) Shale
c) Coal
d) Rock Salt
Answer: c
19. Which of these pairs are BOTH sedimentary rocks?
a) Granite and Basalt
b) Limestone and Sandstone
c) Marble and Slate
d) Obsidian and Pumice
Answer: b
20. Where would sedimentary rocks like sandstone MOST LIKELY form?
a) In a volcano
b) At the bottom of the sea or a lake
c) Deep underground under great pressure
d) Flowing out as lava
Answer: b
21. What is the correct order for the formation of a sedimentary rock like sandstone?
a) Deposition → Weathering → Compaction → Erosion
b) Weathering → Erosion → Deposition → Compaction & Cementation
c) Melting → Cooling → Crystallisation
d) Heat → Pressure → Bending
Answer: b
22. Which rock is soft, white, and can be used to write on a blackboard?
a) Flint
b) Chalk
c) Shale
d) Conglomerate
Answer: b
27. What does the grain size in a clastic sedimentary rock (like conglomerate, sandstone, shale) tell you?
a) How hot it was when it formed
b) How fast the water or wind was moving when it was deposited
c) What colour it will be
d) How many fossils it contains
Answer: b (Fast-moving water carries larger grains, slow-moving carries finer grains.)
28. Which sedimentary rock is the finest-grained (has the smallest particles)?
a) Conglomerate
b) Sandstone
c) Shale
d) Breccia
Answer: c
30. Which of these statements about sedimentary rocks is TRUE?
a) They are always formed underwater.
b) They give us clues about past environments on Earth.
c) They are the main type of rock in the Earth's mantle.
d) They never contain minerals.
Answer: b
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
1. How are metamorphic rocks formed?
a) From cooling magma or lava
b) From layers of sediment pressed together
c) From existing rocks changed by intense heat and/or pressure
d) From evaporated seawater
Answer: c
2. What does the word "metamorphic" mean?
a) To melt
b) To settle
c) To change form
d) To crystallise
Answer: c
4. Which of these is a metamorphic rock?
a) Granite
b) Sandstone
c) Slate
d) Limestone
Answer: c
5. What does shale (a sedimentary rock) change into when it is put under heat and pressure?
a) Marble
b) Slate
c) Quartzite
d) Gneiss
Answer: b
6. What does limestone (a sedimentary rock) change into when it is heated?
a) Slate
b) Marble
c) Schist
d) Gneiss
Answer: b
7. What does sandstone (a sedimentary rock) change into when it is under great heat and pressure?
a) Marble
b) Slate
c) Quartzite
d) Granite
Answer: c
8. Which feature is common in many metamorphic rocks?
a) Gas bubbles
b) Fossils
c) Visible layers or bands
d) A glassy texture
Answer: c
9. What is the name for the wavy layers or bands of minerals seen in rocks like gneiss?
a) Strata
b) Fossils
c) Foliation
d) Crystals
Answer: c
10. Which metamorphic rock has very obvious, often light and dark, banding?
a) Slate
b) Marble
c) Gneiss
d) Quartzite
Answer: c
11. Which metamorphic rock is known for splitting easily into flat, thin sheets and is often used for roofing tiles?
a) Marble
b) Slate
c) Gneiss
d) Schist
Answer: b
12. Which metamorphic rock is often polished and used for sculptures, floors, and kitchen worktops?
a) Slate
b) Quartzite
c) Marble
d) Schist
Answer: c
13. Which of these is a non-foliated (not banded) metamorphic rock?
a) Slate
b) Schist
c) Gneiss
d) Marble
Answer: d
14. What is the parent rock of the metamorphic rock gneiss?
a) Limestone
b) Shale
c) Granite
d) Sandstone
Answer: c (Com...
