Question

1. on a hike up a mountain, delilah sees small pieces of rock along the trail. the small pieces look just like the rock that the mountain is made from. how did these small pieces of rock break off from the mountain?

a wind and rain interacted with the rock, breaking it into small pieces.

b the small pieces of rock were formed by earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters. these disasters were strong enough to break the rock into small pieces.

c rays from the sun shone down on the rock, and it broke into pieces.

d if anything were left out for a long time, it would break into small pieces.

Explanation:

Weathering processes like wind (abrasion) and rain (chemical and physical weathering) can break rocks into smaller pieces. Earthquakes/tsunamis (option b) are more about large - scale movement rather than common small - scale rock breaking along a trail. Sun rays (option c) don't directly break rocks into small pieces in the way described. Option d is too vague and not a scientific explanation.

Answer:

a. Wind and rain interacted with the rock, breaking it into small pieces.