Rock cycle

The rock cycle is like a big circle that explains how rocks are made, broken down, and made again. It starts with something really hot, like magma (super hot gooey stuff inside the Earth) that comes out of a volcano.

This magma eventually cools down and hardens into solid rock, just like when you make Jell-O and it gets cold in the fridge and turns into a wiggly solid. This is called igneous rock.

Over time, weathering and erosion (nature breaking rocks down through things like wind, water, and ice) can break the igneous rock into smaller pieces. These smaller pieces might then get squished and pressed together by the Earth's crust, almost like a sandwich maker, and create sedimentary rock.

But that's not the end of the story! If this sedimentary rock ends up back inside the Earth, it can get heated up and squished even more, turning it into metamorphic rock. Imagine if you put a piece of bread in a toaster and then squished it between your palms - it would be totally different!

And the circle goes on and on - even metamorphic rock can eventually melt and become magma again, starting the whole process over. So that's the rock cycle, a never-ending circle of rocks being made, broken down, and made again!