Choose one of the story
starters below and write
a short story.
1. Something in the closet
was making a strange
noise, so I opened the
door and…
2. My friends and I were
trick or treating and
knocked on the door ….

On this day the Statue
of Liberty was
dedicated in 1886.
Explain what you know
about the Statue of
Liberty. Why is it such
a great American
symbol?
The diagram below shows a wave.
Two points at crests in the wave are labeled.
Which of these names the location of a point in the wave
that is exactly halfway between these two crests?
 A. node
 B. plane
 C. trough
 D. phase





The two most abundant elements in Earth's
core are
A. iron and magnesium
B. silicon and oxygen
C. nickel and silicon
D. iron and nickel
Page 343
# 1-8

 GLE
0707.7.1 Describe the
physical properties of
minerals.
By Ms. Stanford
7th Grade Science
A mineral is a naturally
formed, inorganic solid that
has a definite crystalline
structure.
Solid
 Cannot be a liquid or a gas
Naturally Occurring
 Found in nature, not man-made
Inorganic
 Is not alive and never was, non-living
Crystal Form
 A definite structure in which atoms are arranged


Each mineral has
characteristic
properties that can
be used to identify
it.
Color can be used to
identify only those
few minerals that
always have their
own characteristic
color.
If we take one mineral, beryl,
and add different impurities,
we get different colors

A streak is the color of the mineral when
in powder form.


Another simple
test to identify a
mineral is to
check its luster.
Luster is a term
used to describe
how light is
reflected from a
mineral’s surface.
Large Pyrite Cluster
Huanzala, Does de Mayo
Province, Peru

Each mineral has a characteristic density.
Density is how much matter is in a given
space.



When you identify a mineral, one of the best
clues you can use is the mineral’s hardness.
The Mohs hardness scale ranks ten minerals
from softest to hardest.
A mineral can scratch any mineral softer than
itself, but can be scratched by any mineral
that is harder.

A mineral that splits
easily along flat
surfaces has the
property called
cleavage.


Most minerals do not split apart evenly.
Instead, they have a characteristic type of fracture,
which describes how a mineral breaks roughly and
not along a smooth surface.
◦
◦
◦
◦
Is it non-living material?
Is it a solid?
Is it formed in nature?
Does it have a crystalline structure?
Wood
Gold
Fossil
Topaz
Bones
Granite
Quartz
Pearls
Talc
Icebergs
Diamond
Coal
Rock Salt

Minerals
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Gold
Topaz
Quartz
Talc
Iceberg*
Diamonds

Non-Minerals
a)
b)
c)
d)
Wood - once living
Fossils – once living
Bone - living material
Granite - intrusive
igneous rock
e) Pearls – made by oysters
f) Coal - Sedimentary rock
g) Rock Salt – Sedimentary
rock
According to IMA – ice is listed as a mineral

If you break quartz to learn if it splits
smoothly in a certain direction, what physical
property are you testing?
a. hardness
b. cleavage
c. streak
d. specific gravity
Silicate minerals contain a combination of the
elements
a.
b.
c.
d.
Sulfur and oxygen
Carbon and oxygen
Iron and oxygen
Silicon and oxygen