Use this word bank to complete the missing terms in this packet:
FELDSPAR
ORDERLY
EVAPORATION
SHAPE
CRYSTALLINE
NATURALLY
QUARTZ
SMOOTH
COLORS
RESISTANCE
METAL
ORGANIC
BEAUTIFUL
REFLECTED
UNGLAZED
IDENTIFY
PRECIPITATION
CHANGE
IDENTIFY
COMPARING
GOLD
UNEVEN
STREAK
PEARLY
CLEAR
POWDER
NOT
IDENTIFIED
UNRELIABLE
ALIVE
COOLING
SHARP
BREAKS
SURFACE
19
HARDEST
LIGHT
SCRATCHING
PEARLY
IDENTIFY
LIGHT
HARD
MOHS
GRAVITY
COLOR
ALUMINUM
MANGANESE
CRYSTALLINE
_______________________________________________________________
Properties of Minerals
Minerals are _____________________ occurring inorganic substances. They each have
a specific and unique ________________________ structure. Inorganic means that
they are not alive and are not made up of anything that was ever alive.
______________fold_______________
Obsidian and glass are not minerals because they do not have a
uniform__________________________ structure.
Coal is not a mineral because it is formed from _____________ material, plants and
animals that were once ________________.
Examples of minerals are _________________, __________________,
______________________,_______________,_____________________.
Three other facts I have learned about minerals are:
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Examples, Non-examples, & Other Facts
Draw and label three (3) examples of minerals:
Draw and label 3 examples that are NOT minerals:
__________________________fold_________________________________
Crystals form due to the ________________ arrangement of atoms that
shows in the crystal’s physical ________________. The three ways that
crystals form are by ________________________,
_________________________, and
____________________________________.
Crystals
Cleavage and fracture are terms that describe how a rock
____________________.
Draw examples of rocks that have
Cleavage:
Fracture:
fold
Specific gravity tells how heavy something is
compared to the same volume of
_________________________.
Water has a specific gravity of 1. Gold is
___________ times heavier than water. The
specific gravity of gold is 19. The specific
____________ of iron is 7.85 and the specific
gravity of aluminum is 2.72. Many substances can
be _____________by the specific gravity.
Specific Gravity
Explain what you have learned so far about minerals:__________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_________________________fold________________________________
Minerals that show
cleavage split into
_______________, flat
planes or sheets.
Mica is a mineral that
displays cleavage.
Cleavage
Fracture means that a mineral
breaks on ______________lines
with sharp edges. A mineral that
shows fracture is flint. It breaks
with __________edges that are
perfect for arrowheads.
Fracture
Minerals can be many ___________. The color can help
__________ a mineral, but it can also be
__________________. Copper is a common metal
mineral that has a reddish yellow color but it turns
green or brown when exposed to air and moisture.
Think of the color of a new penny and an old penny.
______________is another way to identify a mineral
and is much more reliable. The color of the surface and
the color of the streak are not always the same.
________________________________________fold_______________________________________
The Mohs Scale:
Rate these from the
Mohs scale:
feldspar _______
quartz______
gypsum_______
talc______
diamond______
glass____
copper_______
steel tool_______
knife__________
Hardness
Some minerals are very __________, some are quite soft. The scale used to measure
hardness is called the ___________scale. It was developed by Friedrich Mohs in 1822.
The Mohs Hardness Scale is used as a convenient way to help identify minerals. A
mineral's hardness is a measure of its relative ________________ to scratching,
measured by ______________the mineral against another substance of known
hardness on the Mohs Hardness Scale. This graphic outlines the index minerals and
some common objects that are used to determine a mineral's hardness.
This method is especially useful for identifying minerals in the field because you can test
minerals against some very common objects (fingernail, a penny, a nail). The scale is
named for its creator, the German geologist and mineralogist Friedrich Mohs. However,
the method of _______________hardness has been used as far back as 300 BC, as
mentioned by Theophrastus in his treatis On Stones. Talc is very soft and easily crushed
into powder. Diamonds are the ________________mineral. Only a diamond can
scratch or cut another diamond.
Name and describe a substance that you know about. Estimate where you think it
would fit on the Mohs scale. ________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________fold_____________________
Color is the way ____________
is reflected on the surface and
can ____________________
under certain conditions.
Exposure to air, water, or
other substances or a change
in the light can make a color
look different.
Color
Streak is the ____________
that a mineral leaves on an
____________________ white
tile. The color of the streak is
always the same and
dependable for identifying a
mineral but it is not always the
same as the surface color.
Streak
Luster means “shininess”.
Luster describes how light is _______________________ from the
surface of something. Minerals that shine like ________________ have a
metallic luster. Some minerals are dull. That means they are not shiny. They
do __________reflect the _______________.
Minerals can also look glassy, ________________, or earthy. Terms
that are used to describe the luster of gemstones that change colors in the
light as you move them are opalescent or iridescent. Gemstones are
________________ and have a _____________________luster.
Draw and label some gemstones:
Luster
Teacher InstructionsTeachers, print a master copy of this document to practice with and make sure that fronts and backs
line up properly. Each page should print front and back to fold and form a flap booklet with titles at
the bottom of each page for the content showing on that page.
Following is and answer key that is NOT in the same format, but is in the same sequence. It will be
helpful to your students to see an example of how to fold the pages and insert answers. Some word
bank answers are used multiple times.
Use this word bank to complete the missing terms in this packet:
FELDSPAR
ORDERLY
SHAPE
NATURALLY
SMOOTH
EVAPORATION
CRYSTALLINE
QUARTZ
COLORS
19
RESISTANCE
METAL
ORGANIC
BEAUTIFUL
LIGHT
REFLECTED
UNGLAZED
IDENTIFY
PRECIPITATION
CHANGE
IDENTIFY
COMPARING
GOLD
HARD
UNEVEN
STREAK
PEARLY
CLEAR
MOHS
POWDER
NOT
IDENTIFIED
UNRELIABLE
COOLING
SHARP
BREAKS
SURFACE
CRYSTALLINE
HARDEST
LIGHT
PEARLY
GRAVITY
COLOR
SCRATCHING
IDENTIFY
ALUMINUM
MANGANESE
ALIVE
Properties of Minerals
Minerals are __naturally___________________ occurring inorganic substances. They
each have a specific and unique ___crystalline_____________________ structure.
Inorganic means that they are not alive and are not made up of anything that was ever
alive. Obsidian and glass are not minerals because they do not have a uniform
___crystalline_______ structure. Coal is not a mineral because it is formed from
__organic_________ material, plants and animals that were once __alive________.
Examples, Non-examples, & Other Facts
Examples of minerals are quartz, gold, feldspar, aluminum, and manganese. (in any
order)
Three other facts I have learned about minerals are:
________Students choice from your previous lessons_________________
Draw and label three (3) examples of minerals:
Students choice from your previous lessons_________________
Draw and label 3 examples that are NOT minerals:
Students choice your previous lessons_________________
Crystals
Crystals form due to the ___specific_ arrangement of atoms that shows in the crystal’s
physical _shape_. The three ways that crystals form are by evaporation, precipitation
and cooling.
Cleavage and fracture are terms that describe how a rock breaks.
Draw examples of rocks that have
Cleavage:
Fracture:
Students diagrams from your previous lessons
Specific gravity tells how heavy something is compared to the same volume of
___water_____. Water has a specific gravity of 1. Gold is ___19__ times heavier than
water. The specific gravity of gold is 19. The specific _gravity__ of iron is 7.85 and the
specific gravity of aluminum is 2.72. Many substances can be _identified_by the specific
gravity.
Specific Gravity
Explain what you have learned so far about minerals:__________________
________Students choice from your previous lessons_________________
Cleavage
Minerals that show cleavage split into
__smooth_____, flat planes or sheets.
Mica is a mineral that displays cleavage.
Fracture
Fracture means that a mineral breaks on
_uneven__lines with sharp edges. A mineral
that shows fracture is flint. It breaks with
__sharp________edges that are perfect for
arrowheads.
Color & Streak
Minerals can be many __colors_________. The color can help __identify________ a
mineral, but it can also be _unreliable__. Copper is a common metal mineral that has a
reddish yellow color but it turns green or brown when exposed to air and moisture.
Think of the color of a new penny and an old penny. _Streak_is another way to identify
a mineral and is much more reliable. The color of the surface and the color of the streak
are not always the same.
The Mohs Scale:
Rate these from
the Mohs scale:
feldspar ___6____
quartz__7____
gypsum_2______
talc_1_____
diamond__10___
glass_5___
copper__3_____
steel tool_6_____
knife__5_____
Hardness
Some minerals are very hard, some are quite soft. The scale used to measure hardness
is called the __Mohs__scale. It was developed by Friedrich Mohs in 1822. The Mohs
Hardness Scale is used as a convenient way to help identify minerals. A mineral's
hardness is a measure of its relative __resistance___ to scratching, measured by
__scratching_the mineral against another substance of known hardness on the Mohs
Hardness Scale. This graphic outlines the index minerals and some common objects that
are used to determine a mineral's hardness.
This method is especially useful for identifying minerals in the field because you can test
minerals against some very common objects (fingernail, a penny, a nail). The scale is
named for its creator, the German geologist and mineralogist Friedrich Mohs. However,
the method of _comparing___ hardness has been used as far back as 300 BC, as
mentioned by Theophrastus in his treatis On Stones. Talc is very soft and easily crushed
into powder. Diamonds are the _hardest_mineral. Only a diamond can scratch or cut
another diamond.
Name and describe a substance that you know about. Estimate where you think it
would fit on the Mohs scale. ________________________________________________
Students choice from your previous lessons_________________
____________________fold_____________________
Color
Streak
Color is the way _light_____ is
reflected on the surface and
can ___change____________
under certain conditions.
Exposure to air, water, or
other substances or a change
in the light can make a color
look different.
Streak is the _color_ that a
mineral leaves on an
__unglazed___ white tile. The
color of the streak is always
the same and dependable for
identifying a mineral but it is
not always the same as the
surface color.
Luster means “shininess”.
Luster describes how light is __reflected___ from the surface of
something. Minerals that shine like __metal__ have a metallic luster. Some
minerals are dull. That means they are not shiny. They do not reflect the
_light_.
Minerals can also look glassy, _pearly_, or earthy. Terms that are used
to describe the luster of gemstones that change colors in the light as you
move them are opalescent or iridescent. Gemstones are _minerals_ and have
a ___beautiful__luster.
Draw some gemstones:
Students choice from your previous lessons