Diamonds are the state gem in Arkansas, where we live, but
students everywhere will enjoy learning more about them.
Diamonds are made entirely of carbon — we humans are about 18%
carbon ourselves, but diamonds are all carbon. They’re the
hardest substance in the world, and they reflect light in a
special way (basically, the light bounces around inside the
diamond) that makes them super shiny. How diamonds are formed -
Diamonds began with stardust. As far as we know, pretty much all
the carbon in the world came to earth as dust from dying stars.
The stardust that ended up deep within the earth was the
starting point for diamonds. - The carbon inside the earth’s
layers, between the core and the crust, got cooked and squished
— it takes a lot of heat and pressure to create diamonds. - When
magma comes up to the earth during volcanic action, diamonds can
come along for the ride. The results is areas where diamonds can
be mined, as in the book at the Volcano Lesson Plans link, and
also diamonds moved around by ero