What is metamorphic?

Metamorphic means something changes shape or form after it has been through a tough experience, like when you press a cookie into a special pan and it turns into a new shape.

Imagine you have a rock, and it’s been deep underground for a really long time. It gets squeezed by other rocks, and sometimes it even gets hot. Over many years, the rock slowly changes, it becomes a different kind of rock with a new look and feel. That's what we call metamorphic change.

Think about when you bake a cookie. You start with dough, soft and squishy. Then you press it into a pan, and put it in the oven. The heat makes it firm, and the shape changes. It becomes a real cookie!

Just like that cookie, metamorphic rocks go through pressure and heat, and slowly change from one type of rock to another, like turning from limestone to marble, or from shale to slate.

So, metamorphic is just a fancy word for "changed by being squeezed and heated", like your favorite cookie after it comes out of the oven.