A Virtual Field Trip to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum
Name:______________________________________
To begin, visit the website www.mnh.si.edu/earth/main_frames.html . ( This document and link are on Edmodo)
Read the entry page, and continue into the multimedia experience. Click on Gems and Minerals in the upper left
quadrant. Use your background knowledge, inference and the digital exhibits to answer the following.
Begin with the tab for minerals. Read the introduction. Click on Building blocks of rocks.
1) Of all the mineral families in the Earth’s crust, what percentage is comprised of silicates? Click on Quartz in the
pie chart, and then read more about quartz.
2) Describe the crystal structure of quartz, and where it is often found.
3) Click on and read about Large, tiny and useful crystals. What is an industrial use of quartz?
4) Return to the pie chart and click on Feldspars. What elements are Feldspars comprised of?
Select Crystal Shape from toolbar and read the introduction.
5) What determines a crystal’s basic shape? What causes variations in the shape?
Click on the mineral in the bottom right.
6) What two minerals are featured here? What is the chemical formula for them? What element do they share?
Close the GeoGallery, and click on Pyrite.
7) What 2 physical properties of pyrite cause it to be known as fool’s gold? What is pyrite’s chemical formula and
crystal structure?
Close the GeoGallery, and click on Beryl, the aqua colored mineral to the left of Pyrite.
8) Is beryl a silicate? What type of crystal structure does Beryl have? What other common mineral has the same
structure?
Notice the minerals to the left and right of Beryl that it is embedded in. This is light-colored form of mica known as
muscovite. Zoom in to see the breakage pattern known as cleavage. Close the GeoGallery, and click on the mineral
in the top left, Rhodochrosite. Read about Rhodochrosite.
9) Could Rhodochrosite be scratched by fluorite?
10) What is its crystal structure?
11) What are two aspects of its physical properties would make it a poor choice for jewelry, despite its beautiful
appearance? ( One aspect is stated, one you will have to infer.)
Close the GeoGallery and click on Aragonite in the bottom left.
12) What mineral are the milky, prismatic crystals of Aragonite growing from? Based on its chemical formula, what
mineral is Aragonite in the “family” of? What other mineral has the same chemical formula?
Close the GeoGallery and click on mineral to the right of Aragonite.
13) What does this mineral tell us about past conditions?
Close the GeoGallery and click the menu choice “salt of the Earth”.
14) What is the crystal structure of halite (salt)? How does it appear under increased magnification?
Click on So many Shapes
15) What causes the wide variety of crystal shapes in minerals?
Select Crystal Growth from the Tab at the top. Read about Crystal growth.
16) List three conditions in which crystals form.
Browse some of the Growth oddities, and then move onto Different environments. Click on and read about each of the
different specimens of Gypsum.
17) What is the chemical formula for gypsum? What accounts for the different appearances of gypsum?
Then move onto a Crystal’s Life Story. Drag the slider through the crystal to see different slices of it.
17) How are slices of a crystal like a tree ring? How are they different?
18) What accounts for the different colors in the crystal?
Click on the Tab for Color. After enjoying the rocky rainbow, get ready for a real contrast and revisit the Building Blocks of
rocks and read about Asbestos. Read about asbestos. Click on each picture of asbestos and read more.
19) What group of minerals are asbestos minerals a member of?
20) What types of industrial applications are they used in?
21) What type of breakage pattern do they exhibit?
22) Visit the final tab, pegmatites. How do pegmatites form?
Read about exotic minerals.
23) In addition to their beauty, what industrial applications do beryllium minerals have?
Continue reading about exotic minerals.
24) List some of the wide range of industrial applications that Lithium is used in.
25) What family of minerals is lithium a part of?
Read about tourmalines, and then move to the Gem side of the Mineral and Gem exhibit.Read about All About Gems.
26) What root word does the unit of measure for “carat” come from? What does this tell us about how long
humans have valued gems? What makes a gem valuable?
27) Read about where gems come from Why are gems unevenly distributed on Earth?
Click on and read about the Smithsonian’s most famous (and notorious) mineral, the Hope diamond.
28) How do diamonds form? What is diamonds chemical formula?
29) What mineral would have formed if the transit had been slower and less forceful?
30) What was your favorite mineral in the museum and why?