How to Read a Rock Landscape
Place: A public viewpoint at Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
The colorful cliffs at Capitol Reef tell a long story about Earth's past. You can explore that story using your eyes, a notebook, and a pencil. Follow these steps while staying in the designated viewing area.
1. Get ready
Bring water, a notebook, and a pencil. Colored pencils or binoculars can help, but they are not required. Follow signs and stay on established paths or viewing areas. Do not walk on fragile desert soil or remove rocks.
2. Look for layers
Study the cliffs from a safe place. Can you see bands of different colors or textures? These bands may be layers of sedimentary rock. Long ago, materials such as sand and mud collected in layers and became rock.
In your notebook, draw a simple outline of the cliffs. Add the bands you can see. Describe their colors in your own words.
3. Notice shapes and angles
Look for steep cliffs, rounded domes, and gentle slopes. Do all the layers look level, or do some appear tilted? Sketch what you observe without guessing when you are unsure.
- designated:
- Officially chosen or marked for a specific purpose.
- fragile:
- Easily damaged, broken, or harmed.
- textures:
- The ways that surfaces look or feel, such as rough, smooth, or grainy.
- sedimentary:
- Formed from materials like sand, mud, or pebbles that settle in layers and harden into rock.
- crust:
- The rocky outer layer of the Earth.
- weathering:
- The natural process by which rock is worn down or broken apart by water, wind, or ice.
- erosion:
- The gradual wearing away and movement of rock or soil by natural forces like wind, water, or gravity.
- undisturbed:
- Left alone in its natural state without being touched, moved, or changed.
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1According to Step 1, which items are required for this activity and which are optional?
- 2How do layers of sedimentary rock form, according to the passage?
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About this instructions passage for Middle School
“How to Read a Rock Landscape” is a instructions reading passage about Geological Observation and Park Stewardship, written for Middle School. It takes about 2 minutes to read (320 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.