Unit 5 Minerals Study Guide KEY
Overview - The rock cycle, which is continual in nature, explains the formation of
minerals and rocks. Fossils provide evidence of constant environmental change.
Standards:
Students will investigate the scientific view of how the earth’s surface is formed.
Investigate the contribution of minerals to rock composition.
Describe how fossils show evidence of the changing surface and climate of the
Earth.
Students will investigate the scientific view of how the earth’s surface is formed.
Compare and contrast the Earth’s crust, mantle, and core including
temperature, density, and composition.
Questions: - Students will be asked to answer these questions throughout this unit of
study.
#1 How are minerals identified?
#2 How do natural objects compare to manufactured objects?
#3 How are minerals used by 6th graders?
MINERALS
1. Minerals which are naturally existing chemical compounds.
2. Minerals can be identified by their physical properties.
3. What are the four characteristics of a mineral? Naturally occurring, Crystal
Structure/Chemical Substance, Inorganic/ Non-Living, and Solid.
4. Minerals are classified based on chemical composition into two groups. What
are these two groups? silicates and nonsilicates.
5. The two most common elements in the Earth's crust are oxygen & silicon and that
is why geologists label all minerals as either silicates or nonsilicates.
6. Minerals that contain combinations of silicon and oxygen in their chemical
structure are called silicates and minerals without silicon and oxygen are called
nonsilicates.
7. The structure of a crystal is made by a repeating pattern of atoms. The largest
crystals are formed as superheated rocks slowly cool. Where are these large crystals
formed? Underground near magma.
IDENTIFYING MINERALS
8. The following physical properties of minerals can be easily used to identify a
mineral:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Color
Streak
Hardness
Cleavage or Fracture
Crystalline Structure
Magnetism
Luster
Chemical Composition
Specific Gravity (density)
9. What is Mohs' hardness scale? A scale from 1 to 10 that measures the
hardness of rocks.
10. Minerals are identified by Hardness is tested by scratching
11. What physical properties can be expressed in numbers and shows how that
substance withstands being scratched? Hardness
12. On Mohs' hardness scale, talc is the softest mineral and diamond is the hardest.
13. What is a mineral's streak? The powder left behind when a mineral
scratches against a streak plate.
14. The color of the powder that a mineral leaves on a piece of white, unglazed
porcelain is called Streak.
15. Cleavage is the tendency of minerals to break along flat surfaces and
fracture is the tendency to break in an uneven manner.
16. Quartz breaks unevenly and this is called fracture.
17. A diamond breaks evenly and this is called cleavage.
18. Of the mineral properties, color is the least accurate for figuring out a
mineral’s identity.
19. The most common classification of minerals is based on chemical composition.
20. Luster is how light reflects off the mineral.
21. Metallic and nonmetallic describes a mineral's luster.
22. This is considered a special property that applies to only a few minerals?
Magnetism.
23. The purest color of quartz is clear because it has the fewest impurities inside of
it.
Rocks vs. Minerals
24. Rocks and minerals are naturally occurring substances that are usually crystalline
and solid
25. Igneous rocks are dominated by silicate minerals.
26. Rocks and minerals are not the same thing.
27. Rocks are composed of minerals which are naturally existing chemical
compounds.
28. Minerals are the building blocks of rocks.
29. Rocks are composed (made up) of minerals.
30. FALSE (True OR False) A mineral can have more than one type of rock in it.
31. TRUE (True OR False) A rock can have more than one type of mineral in it.
Minerals in everyday life
32. Almost every product we use in daily life contains depends on minerals that have
to be mined.
33. Many materials used by people come from rocks and minerals.
34. We use carbonate minerals in cement, building stones, and fireworks.
35. Carbonates are minerals that contain both carbon and oxygen.
36. Silicon is the second most common element on Earth.
37. List some commonly used minerals.
Aluminum – packaging, building/construction, electrical, machines
Barium – rubber, sparkplugs, white pigment
Beryllium – X-rays, computers, electronics in cars, medical equipment
Copper – cables, wires, switches, plumbing, heating
Feldspar – paper, pottery, glass, fertilizer
Halite (salt) – preserving food, seasoning food, soap, mineral water
Lead – batteries, gas, electronics, glass construction, computers
Lithium – batteries, glass, medicine
Silica – computer chips, glass, cosmetics, medicine
Titanium – sports equipment, welding, missiles, jet engines, medical
Uranium – submarines, nuclear medicine
VOCABULARY
mineral formation, pressure, organic, inorganic, structure, fracture, luster, cleavage,
carbonate, silicate, streak