Hi there, my name is Sammy the Sedimentary Rock. I would like to teach you about the very important rock cycle! Do you want to learn about it?

Hi Sammy, Im piper the Pig. I would love to learn about the rock cycle, as long as its fun!

Great! Well I'll start sedimentary rocks. These are formed near the Earths surface by the build up of pieces of pre-existing rocks or by other natural causes. This build up creates so much pressure that compacts all the other sediments into sedimentary rocks.

Wow! Now I know how you were formed. What happens next?

Well, if I get buried deeper below the earth's surface then the heat and pressure that keeps increasing makes me turn into a metamorphic rock. This means I'm changing in form! Now, I make up a large part of the Earths crust.

Woah! Doesn't the heat and pressure make you melt?

Yes, exactly! When I get very hot from the center of the earth, I turn into magma which is a mix of rocks and solids below the earths crust that contains dissolved gas and crystals.

Oh right, I've heard of Magma before, it pours out of volcanoes!

That's right Piper! Then while the volcano erupts, the rocks inside shoot out and cool down very quickly. I then become a solid along with all of my other rock friends! During this process, the crystals grow and join together in order to form me, an igneous rock!

Igneous rocks must be pretty if they're made from crystals!

You bet! Then finally, when igneous rocks go through natural causes such as weathering and erosion, they become sediments. Erosion is a very slow process which decays the rock into smaller pieces.

So what are sediments?

They are pieces of matter that travel by wind and water. Their build up over time gets very heavy which presses together the sediment. The build up is compacting and cementing the sediments which forms them into a rock. Can you guess what kind?

Hmmmm, a sedimentary rock! But I thought that's what you were in the beginning?

Yes, I was! And I still am, I just look different! This cycle takes over thousands of years and never ends!

Wow! That is so cool, thank you for teaching me about the rock cycle. I can't wait to tell all of my friends!