• Separate/Group the minerals by properties:
Use minerals #1 - #39
– Sort into 3 or 4 piles by similar characteristics
– How are they alike?
– How did you decide to sort them?
Minerals and You
– “Mining Minerals Matters in Your Everyday
Life” (5 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxtiPEO0
GLc
– Modern Mining and You (first 15 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiN5aVvR
LRk
Minerals are composed of Elements
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D05ej8u-gU
Most Astounding Fact Neil DeGrass Tyson
Which Elements Make up the Earth’s crust?
What are the top 8
Common minerals
Some minerals are made from 1 element like:
sulfur, copper, gold, iron , silver, carbon
But most minerals are …Compounds
Salt (NaCl) Calcite (CaCO3)
Quartz (sand) (SiO2)
There are over 4000 minerals, but only about a 20+ are
common in the Earth’s crust and make-up all the rocks
Mineral or Not???
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
YES
Ruby
Mercury NO, liquid
Concrete No, man-made
Salt
YES
Cubic zirconia NO, synthetic
Sugar
NO, organic
Ice
YES
Pearl
Metalloid, no
crystalline structure
Take #44 out of the box
The ROCK Granite
How many different colors are in granite?
Find minerals # 6 #7 #26,
So, a rock by definition is…
A solid mass of one or more
minerals
mixed together in varying
Except…..
• Limestone rock (#58) is made
of only ONE mineral: calcite (#3)
• Obsidian (#51), which is glass made of only
ONE mineral – quartz (#7)
• Coal, which is organic matter.
Mineral Identification Lab
Purpose:
• To construct methods to qualitatively and
quantitatively analyze characteristics
• Identify the minerals
• Group them by similar physical and
chemical characteristics
• Research their use as Earth’s resources
Earth Science, 11e
Bellringer: Describe how
the different spheres are
interdependent on each
other.
What is the first question the game
asks?????
Is it an….. animal, vegetable, or a mineral?
Minerals:
• are in EVERY manufactured product
• Are essential to good health (vitamins)
• are an important part of Earth’s processes
Mineral Box Scavenger Hunt
Which mineral…
1. Looks like glass
2. Smells like rotten eggs
3. Flecks of gold
4. Is magnetic
5. Is soft like powder
6. Can write like a pencil
7. Tastes salty
8. Is heavy like lead
9. Dried blood-red color
10. Peels into thin sheets
____
#7
quartz
____
#31 sulfur
#22 pyrite
____
#13 magnetite
____
#1
____ talc
____ graphite
#18
____ halite
#11 galena
_____
____ hematite
#23/24
mica
____
Analyze characteristics
Day 1
• Group discussion:
–
–
–
–
Observe minerals #1-39 in the boxes
Sort into 3 or 4 groups by similarities
Describe characteristics of the sorted groups.
Whiteboard your groups (be sure to include
your objective, data tables, drawings and
conclusion)
Earth Science, 11e
Bellringer: What
characteristics distinguish
minerals?
To construct methods to qualitatively and
quantitatively analyze characteristics
Day 2
• Each table group will choose a different
characteristic.
• Define the characteristic
• Describe the characteristic qualitatively
(words)
• Determine if and how it could be quantitatively
measured.
– Construct a scale to measure it
Minerals: the building blocks of rocks
pgs. 96-97
What are the 5 characteristics that
make a mineral a mineral? All are:
• Solid
•Natural (found in nature)
•Inorganic (never were living)
• have an orderly internal structure of atoms and crystals
• have a definite Chemical composition (chemical formula)
Mineraloid - lacks an orderly internal structure
Identify the Minerals
Day 3
• Groups explain the scale, rank, grouping of
the characteristic on your white board: Use
the data table of minerals and their
qualitative and quantitative characteristics,
identify the minerals by matching their
characteristics to a table of known minerals
• (ESS text pg. 700-701)
Mineral
Specimen
Number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Color
Luster
Light
interaction
Streak
color
Hardness
number
Cleavage
Or Fracture
Soluble
in water
Solubility
in acid
Other
Properties:
Magnetism,
Fluorescence
Mineral
name
page 700701