1. 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?
Color, luster, hardness, shape, weight,

2. Minerals and You
“Mining Minerals Matters in Your Everyday Life” (5 min.)
Modern Mining and You (first 15 min)

3. Minerals are composed of Elements
Where did all the elements that make-up minerals originate? Stars! Show video clip
Most Astounding Fact Neil DeGrass Tyson

4. Which Elements Make up the Earth’s crust? What are the top 8
#1 Oxygen
#2 Silicon
#3 Aluminum
#4 Iron
#5 Calcium
#6 Sodium
#7 Potassium
#8 Magnesium

5. 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)
Some are elements: sulfur, copper, gold, diamond
There are over 4000 minerals, but only about a 20+ are common in the Earth’s crust and make-up all the rocks

6. Mineral or Not??? Ruby Mercury Concrete Salt Cubic zirconia Sugar Ice
YES
NO, liquid
No, man-made
NO, synthetic
NO, organic
Metalloid, no crystalline structure
Ruby
Mercury
Concrete
Salt
Cubic zirconia
Sugar
Ice
Pearl

7. 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 quantities.

8. 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.

9. 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

10. Earth Science, 11e
Bellringer: Describe how the different spheres are interdependent on each other.

11. are in EVERY manufactured product
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

12. 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

13. 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)

14. Bellringer: What characteristics distinguish minerals?
Earth Science, 11e
Bellringer: What characteristics distinguish minerals?

15. Each table group will choose a different characteristic.
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

16. 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

17. 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 )

18. Mineral Specimen Number Color Luster Light interaction Streak color
Color
Luster
Light
interaction
Streak
color
Hardness
number
Cleavage
Or Fracture
Soluble
in water
Solubility
in acid
Other Properties:
Magnetism,
Fluorescence
Mineral name
page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

19. Our State Mineral Top 5 facts
1. It’s color(s)….
2. formula, group/family:
Mineral characteristics, specific identifying
characteristic…
4. Describe how it’s formed, by what process..
5. It is found where in Illinois….
6. It’s uses as a mineral resource.