This exercise is designed for a mid/upper-level undergraduate geology course on the principles of mineralogy.

Students should have knowledge of basic chemistry and of minerals equivalent to what they would learn in an introductory geology class.

This activity is the 24th of 36 mineralogy exercises and is used towards the end of the course.

• Be able to identify symmetry and understand its significance.
• Become familiar with some of the fundamental forms displayed by minerals.

• Apply abstract principles and use abstract properties in meaningful ways.

In this exercise, students use SHAPE, a computer graphics program, to draw the external morphology (faces) of crystals. SHAPE will draw any single crystal and most twins and epitaxial intergrowths. Students make several crystal drawings by entering the crystal axis lengths and angles, the symbol for the crystal class, and one face of each form. The crystal can be rotated and scaled. Students print out their drawings and label every face with the correct Miller Indices.

• Mineralogy Course Summary and Goals
• Mineralogy Course Syllabus