HW4: Rock Report

Learning Goals: 

• Describe an unfamiliar igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic rock using terms learned in this class

Resource: HW4: Rock Report

Submission: via Canvas Quiz (next page)

Instructions: Complete the homework. You may talk among yourselves about different strategies, but you may NOT copy answers from other students (this won’t help you anyway since each student will be researching a different rock). Make sure everything you write is in your own words, and be careful to cite any sources for information. DO NOT START THE QUIZ UNTIL YOU’VE FINISHED YOUR REPORT! 

This is an individual homework that shouldn’t require too much of your time.. But it’s important to follow these rules:

• First, and most important, everything you write must be in your own words. You may not copy and paste material from other sources (of course not!). You may not use quotation marks either to get around this restriction. Every word must be your own.
• I know that for some students in this class English is not your first language. I am totally in awe of your ability to take a class in English (if I had to take a class in one of my foreign languages . . . let’s just say it wouldn’t go well). But just because your English isn’t perfect doesn’t give you the right to copy/paste or use other people’s words. I do not care if you make grammatical or stylistic mistakes–I’m only interested in the content. Resist the temptation to “improve” your report by borrowing phrases and sentences from a native-English source.
• You will need to do some research, but you should use as a foundation what you’ve learned about rocks from your readings. This means that if you have a metamorphic rock, for example, that you apply what you’ve learned about metamorphic rocks. Do not “re-learn” everything about metamorphic rocks by searching online–use the concepts and language that is presented in the readings.
• As directed in the instructions, you should underline and define every word that you had to learn. These definitions must be in your own words and must not include other words that are unfamiliar (unless you define them too). For example, if you’re unfamiliar with the rock “syenite” (which is to be expected!), then you can’t simply describe it as an “undersaturated igneous rock” because you don’t know what “undersaturated” means either (why would you?!?). Going back to the first point, every word must be your own and you must understand it. 
• Look at the example. I am not expecting a report much longer than this (a single paragraph), but it must include a description of all minerals found in the rock along with the mineral’s composition and structure (e.g., if it’s a silicate I want to know if it’s a layer silicate or framework silicate or whatever). Also note that there are other terms used to describe silicates like “tektosilicates” and “phyllosilicates” that are in common use–these are alternate words for the terms I used, and if you choose to use them you should define them like any other unfamiliar word. But, honestly, it would be more useful to you to simply use the terms I used to describe these minerals (e.g., island silicates, single-chains, double-chains, etc.).
• Don’t leave it to the last minute and feel free to contact me or Matt if you need help.

THE ROCK THAT I CHOOSE IS: Hornfels