Properties of Minerals
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This page first made public: Aug 7, 2006
Summary
Students examine a number of key mineral properties and how they are displayed by different minerals.
Context
Audience
This exercise is designed for a mid/upper-level undergraduate geology course on the principles of mineralogy.
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
Students should have knowledge of basic chemistry and of minerals equivalent to what they would learn in an introductory geology class.
How the activity is situated in the course
This activity is the 3rd of 36 mineralogy exercises and is used at the beginning of the course.
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
- Students learn about the details and subtle implications of some key mineral properties.
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
- Students examine the reliability of certain mineral properties when used for mineral identification and consider the importance of using several methods to come to conclusions during research.
Other skills goals for this activity
- Students should learn how to identify minerals using a variety of techniques based on different mineral properties.
Description of the activity/assignment
Students examine a number of key mineral properties and how they are displayed by different minerals. Mineral properties examined include crystal habit, cleavage, parting, fracture, hardness, tenacity, specific gravity, luster, color, and streak.
Determining whether students have met the goals
More information about assessment tools and techniques.Download teaching materials and tips
This assignment can be downloaded in Word (RTF) (Rich Text File 356kB Jul8 05) or pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 40kB Jul8 05) format. This assignment includes notes for the TA.
