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"Glad you had a fun birthday Grandma! Just 

for you, I'm going to beat this last level of 

Race Car Mania!" said Darrock.

"Ha ha-you young rocks! Always playing some 

kind of new-fangled electronic.." chuckled 

Grandma as she finished her slice of birthday 

cake.

"Awww no!" said Darrock, disappointed. "What 

are we going to do now? I'm not ready for bed 

yet." 

"How about a story?" said Grandma.

"Oh, alright." agreed Darrock.

"Tell me about when you were a little 

metamorphic rock".

"Ahhh, but you see-I wasn't always a 

metamorphic rock!" said Grandma.

"What do you mean?" said Darrock curiously. 

"All of us rocks go through the cycle of life! I started 

out as a young igneous rock-just like you!" said 

Grandma.

"You see, the word igneous means produced by fire."

"There is a lot of hot, molten metal and minerals 

inside the Earth. The Earth is very hot on the inside, 

and these metals become melted. This melted 

material is called magma. After awhile, this pressure 

build up, and it come out of the Earth through 

volcanoes. When magma comes out of the Earth, it is 

called lava."

"This lava turns into igneous rock," said Grandma.

"I know how igneous rocks are made Grandma, but I want to 

know why you aren't an igneous rock anymore!" said Darrock 

impatiently.

"You have to listen to the whole story!"

"Alright, alright", said Darrock.

"Where was I...oh yes. After a long long time, igneous rocks break 

down into sediments. 

Sediments are materials that settle in the bottom of a liquid. 

Parts of igneous rocks mix with parts of dead animals and plants 

on the bottom of the sea beds. After thousands of years of 

compression, these sediments become compressed and form 

sedimentary rocks." explained Grandma

falling sediments

"Thousands-wow! You sure are old Grandma!" exclaimed 

Darrock smiling.

Grandma just smiled.

"So bits of rocks get squished together with bits of dead 

plants and animals in the bottom of the sea and become 

sedimentary rocks?", he asked Grandma.

"Exactly! We call this squishing lithification. Some examples 

of these kinds of sedimentary rocks are chalk, 

sandstone, and coal. I was limestone as a 

whippersnapper!", replied Grandma.

"My science teacher Mr. Quarry is chalk, so he must be 

even older than I thought..." Darrock said. 

lithification (squishing together)

"Shall I get back to the story now...", said Grandma.

"Oh yeah, go on Grandma!"

"The next step in the cycle of rock life is becoming a 

metamorphic rock. Can you guess what metamorphic 

means?" asked Grandma.

"Is it like morphing or changing into something new? In Race 

Car Mania I have an awesome car that morphs into a plane!"

"Wonderful sonny! And yes, metamorphic rocks are rocks 

are changed forms of igneous and sedimentary rocks." 

explained Grandma.

"Heat and pressure cause sedimentary and igneous rocks 

to change into metamorphic rocks. " continued Grandma

"What kind of heat and pressure?", asked Darrock.

"Usually heat from molten rock, and pressure from deep 

within the Earth's surface. Metamorphic rocks can also be 

formed by extreme collision of the Earth's plates too."

"Like when my cars crash really hard in Race Car Mania?", 

asked Darrock.

"Well, kind of!", said Grandma laughing. 

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