Geology 100
Instructor: Mary Savina
Fall 2010
The Metal Museum
The goal of this project is to mount a display exhibit in the Geology Department exploring the sources
and uses of certain strategic/critical/crisis metals. Our reading from the book Stuff shows that the goods
we use all the time come from many different sources and go to many different places after use. We
have also visited quarries (Minnesota River Valley and Kasota), gravel pits (Little Chicago) and industrial
manufacturers who use minerals (Cambria). We will also visit Red Wing, where the pottery has used
local clay sources.
Minnesota has a long history of other kinds of mining: Although we have not visited the iron mines in
northern Minnesota, an Iron Range Resources 2008 Publication estimates that Minnesota's six active
iron mines produce 75% of the total US iron ore production and Minnesota also has active exploration
for copper, gold, platinum group metals and other commodities.
Each small group of students will develop resources for an exhibit about a particular metal, based on
research about its origin, its uses (in items likely to be owned by Carleton community members), what
mineral form it is found in (with samples from the Geology Department collection, if available), and
aspects of trade. I expect we will find some good source material - and that we'll also find out how little
we know about where some things come from and go to.
Project learning goals:
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Connecting lives and choices to mineral resources
Making a case for identifying a metal as strategic/critical/crisis and for its inclusion in a display
Using and evaluating different information sources in tracking the way materials are mined,
used and disposed of in creating common objects
Preparing and presenting quantitative information about mineral resources
Accessing the mineral collection and learning its organization
Collaborating on exhibition design
Peer-review exhibit labels and explanations
Stages of project:
A. Reading for all:
Conflict minerals:
HR 4173: (the 2010 Wall St. Reform Bill - read section 1502).
Death by Gadget (Nicholas Kristof, NY Times)
Critical and strategic minerals:
National Academy of Sciences report: Minerals, Critical Minerals and the US Economy, 2008, read the
brief, skim the executive summary (both attached to Moodle site as .pdf files), and read p. 43-47 of the
full report. Also, look up the definitions of critical and strategic minerals in the glossary of this report.
The Politics of rare earth: Forbes blog
Geology 100
Instructor: Mary Savina
B.
Fall 2010
Researching your metal and creating your powerpoint slide:
The Gould Library Guide that Ann Zawistoski has put together for this project has links to basic
information about sources of metals. Each of you will also want to find additional resources on "your"
metal to make your case. Be sure to keep track of the references you use.
Some criteria you might want to consider for your metal/mineral are:
Scarcity of the resource
Demand for the resource, current and projected
Availability (or not) of substitute materials
Geopolitical considerations such as country monopoly, disposition of profits, etc.
Economic effect of a sudden drop in supply
C. Vote on metals from powerpoint slides:
Copper
Magnesium
Rare Earths
Titanium
Tungsten
D.
Exhibit proposal from each group
Make a mock-up of your exhibit using brown butcher paper. As you work on your mineral/metal, also
consider what general information (title, etc.) we need to include to frame the exhibit. We'll divide up
that work among the groups.
Also, make a list of the supplies you need to create the exhibit and we'll make sure to have those on
hand on Tuesday.
List of reasons for importance of these critical/strategic/conflict metals (these were the criteria you
used in making your choices):
1. Need for it in the future (projected demand increase); commercial use and economic importance
("these materials are rather widely used and so their research is vital for us at this moment of time.")
2. Do other sources exist?
3. Scarcity
4. Rare and not well understood; metals we don't know so much about
5. Interesting applications; uses in daily life
6. Interesting properties
7. Controversy (terrible Ts, etc.)
8. How use of metal affects international relations or human conditions in countries around the world.
9. How the metal is relevant to me.
10. Places where we get the metal
Consider the following for your exhibit (all these things should be part of your resource packet; only
some of them will eventually go into the display):
1. Visual displays of quantitative information about the uses of the metal, its sources, imports and
exports, data over time, etc.
Geology 100
Instructor: Mary Savina
Fall 2010
2. Verbal analogies to help explain the numbers, such as this one we heard at the Steam Plant:
"For every four truckloads of garbage that come into the plant, one truckload of ash goes out.
The volume of waste decreases by 75%."
3. An object or objects or pictures of objects that use the metal, particularly if they are consumer
items that people can relate to their lives.
4. A map showing the sources of the metal and where it is used
5. A sample from the geology collection of the mineral(s) that contain the metal
6. Introductory text, captions, and other writing to explain why the metal is in this exhibit; make
the case why people should care
7. Other objects or information related to the criteria listed above.
(This list is a work in progress. I'm sure we can generate some more ideas for possible things to
include)
E. Learning the Dana Set (Geology Department mineral collection)
Tim Vick will show you how to use the Dana Set catalog for the minerals in the Geology Museum. All
groups should be able to find mineral specimens in the collection that contain your metals (possible
exception is the rare earths).
Tim will also explain some important information about mounting exhibits in the geology department
display cases (such as how to place objects so the glass shelves don't break).
F. A field trip to St. Olaf: develop criteria for exhibits
Callie will facilitate a field trip to the St. Olaf campus. I have a list of small departmentally-based exhibits
in various buildings at St. Olaf and you'll have the chance to tour and evaluate those exhibits (in order to
make a set of criteria of what constitutes good exhibits and displays). In addition, you'll get a look at St.
Olaf building materials and a sense for the layout of the St. Olaf campus.
G. Exhibit review by Environmental Ethics class:
Several of Kim Smith's environmental ethics students have agreed to be the "audience" for these
exhibits. Kim and I have made arrangements for her students to review your exhibit mock-ups (including
text for captions, etc.) on Monday, November 8 during 6a. If possible, each group should have at least
one representative available at that time (in Mudd 73) for the critique.
H. Prepare and mount display opens in ground Mudd
Although we won't be having a formal open house for the "metal museum" (too many people, too little
space in the hallway), the students and I are inviting particular people to come to Mudd 73 at around 44:30 p.m. for a narrated explanation of the displays.
Assessment
Students will be assessed on the thoroughness of the research of the metal, on their evaluation of
sources of information, on the written and visual presentation of quantitative information, on the
writing quality of the final exhibit labels and descriptions (which will have gone through several drafts),
on the visual quality of the final display and on the way in which they engage this project.
Geology 100
Instructor: Mary Savina
Fall 2010
References and Resources
Farrell, James, (expected publication October 2010), The Nature of College.
Ryan, John C. and Alan Thein Durning, 1997, Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things: Northwest
Environment, 88 p.
Serrell, Beverly, 1996, Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach: Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira Press, 265
p.
This book has much good information on making an exhibit (not just the labels) serve the purposes
intended by the designer. (This book is recommended by Laurel Bradley, the head of the art gallery at
Carleton). The book is organized in an interesting and holistic way that makes it difficult to choose a
single short excerpt, so it might be something each group could page through.
Website: http://storyofstuff.org
Library course guide for this project
There's a large (and somewhat unwieldy) literature on exhibit design. The following suggestions just
skim the surface. I looked for short articles that established some basic principles and also found one
resource (the .pdf file that's attached) that illustrates some common mistakes.
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Top Ten Tips of Museum (exhibit) design from an architectural point of view - useful, general
information about general principles.
Another short article that emphasizes general principles; although the author focuses on large
museum exhibits (think King Tut), the principles may apply here, too.
A longer article by Saul Carliner reporting results of an observational study of several museum
exhibits.
A powerpoint presentation (.pdf) from Great Britain on designing larger science museum
exhibits. It's a fast read and you will learn that the users of your exhibits are different from you.