Mineral Classification
Joseph Smyth
, University of Colorado at Boulder
Author Profile
This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Peer Reviewed Teaching Activities collection.
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- Scientific Accuracy
- Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
- Pedagogic Effectiveness
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This page first made public: Jul 8, 2009
Summary
This homework assignment challenges students to determine the chemical classification of minerals based on their chemical formula. Students must also provide the valences of the various cations for oxygen-bearing minerals.
Context
Audience
This problem set is used as the first problem set in an undergraduate mineralogy course for geology majors.
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
Students should have a basic understanding of introductory chemistry.
How the activity is situated in the course
This problem set is a stand-alone homework assignment.
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
Determining classifications of minerals based on their chemical formulas
Determining valences for cations based on chemical formulas
Determining valences for cations based on chemical formulas
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Other skills goals for this activity
Description of the activity/assignment
This problem set challenges students to determine the chemical classification of minerals based on their chemical formula (provided). For oxygen-bearing minerals, students must also provide the valences of the various cations.
Determining whether students have met the goals
Students have met the goals of this activity if they complete it correctly.
More information about assessment tools and techniques.Download teaching materials and tips
- Activity Description/Assignment (Acrobat (PDF) 66kB Jul7 09)
- Solution Set (Acrobat (PDF) 83kB Jul7 09)
Other Materials
Supporting references/URLs
This problem set is the 1st of 10 homework assignments used in a Mineralogy course.
You can also access the course syllabus which includes lecture Powerpoints, practice exams, and links to the other problem sets used in this course.
You can also access the course syllabus which includes lecture Powerpoints, practice exams, and links to the other problem sets used in this course.
