J.T.s’ Rock Collection

Graphite is made of the element carbon and is frequently found in certain kinds of schists and limestones. It makes flat crystals but is more common in a tiny grain form. Graphite is very soft, hardnest 1-2 on the hardness scale, it feels greasy and will make your fingers turn black. I think graphite is a very beautiful rock and can be used for many things and the name graphite comes from a greek word.

Today I learned from my library book what marble and quartzite are made of. Marble is made mainly of the mineral calcite. Marble is metamorphosed limestone, and the original layering may still show. It will fizz with acid and can be scratched with a sharp object. Often white, but can be black, red, green, or just patchy. Fossils may occur but are rare. Quartzite is made mostly of grains of quartz but feldspar mica or other minerals may be present. Quartzites are metamorphosed quartz sandstone. Usually coarssely layered they have an even texture and the quartz grains are closely interlocked. Often white but maybe yellowish, grey, or reddish in color. I have had so much fun collecting rocks that I wanted to know more about them, and I am having just as much fun learning about the different types as I do finding them.

I was at my friends house and I was building the floor of our clubhouse and I was digging the floor hole and I found a gold rock. It looked like real gold and I gave the rock to his parents and we broke the rock in to pieces and we used it for the floor and when we wanted to take the floor out we could not take out the floor and we got help from his parents and the rock was still there in pieces but it looked more like real gold than it did before.