Petrographic Microscope Home Kit for Smartphones part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Lynne Elkins, University of Nebraska at Lincoln
This is a useful set of design instructions to build a home microscope kit for illustrating the properties of polarizing/petrographic microscopes with a smartphone camera. It can be used for any number of class ...

Mineral Identification part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Katryn Wiese, City College of San Francisco
Mineral Identification online (developed for remote learning during COVID-19 pandemic); students will explore the various characteristics of minerals and then apply them to identify unknowns.

Creating a Partial Pressure Diagram for the Cu-CO2-O2-H2O System part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Terri Woods, East Carolina University
Students will be guided through the procedure for creating a partial-pressure diagram in the low-temperature system Cu-CO2-O2-H2O system for the minerals cuprite, tenorite, native copper, azurite, and malachite. ...

Crossword Puzzles to Review Mineral Concepts part of Activities
Laura Wetzel, Eckerd College
Students complete a crossword puzzle to review the physical properties of minerals that are helpful in hand specimen identification. Mineral names and characteristics are particularly well-suited for a crossword format. Two versions are provided, one at an introductory level and one for more advanced undergraduates. Instructor files provided are easy to customize.

Rock & Mineral Bingo part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
Kate Pound, North Hennepin Community College
This is a rock and mineral 'Bingo' that is based on knowledge and skill (not luck). It was designed as an entertaining and interactive means of developing and improving student rock and mineral ...

Virtual Lab: "Big Nine" Silicates in Thin Section part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Catherine Macris, Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis
This virtual lab activity uses Virtual Microscope to help students create their own ranked lists of diagnostic properties for the "Big Nine" silicate minerals/groups, which includes quartz, muscovite, ...

Virtual field trip to Giant's Causeway, Ireland part of Cutting Edge:Enhance Your Teaching:Teaching with Online Field Experiences:Activities
Jill Schneiderman, Vassar College
This online assignment takes the students on a virtual field trip to Giant's Causeway in northern Ireland. It begins with a brief video of the geological site, includes some questions relevant to the history ...

Feldspar Mineral Chemistry Using the FCAEM Remotely Operable Electron Probe Micro-Analyzer. part of Activities
Sven Holbik and Rosemary Hickey-Vargas, Florida International University
This lab uses the remote operation of an Electron Probe Micro-Analysis (EPMA) available through the Florida Center for Analytical Electron Microscopy (FCAEM; https://fcaem.fiu.edu/), at Florida International University, Miami, to explore feldspar mineral chemistry. This lab explores detailed mineral chemistry, data normalization, and plotting compositional ranges on ternary diagrams suitable as an introductory assignment in a Mineralogy, Earth Materials, or Petrology course. This instructor-led interactive demonstration of remote Electron Microprobe use introduces students to microprobe analysis, x-ray analytical techniques, standardization, image analysis, normalization, mineral formulas and composition. The instructor can acquire images (optional) of samples containing feldspar (provided by FCAEM or instructor's samples) then select multiple points for analysis. This activity captivates student's attention and provides a hands-on instrument-led approach to introducing undergraduate students to chemical analysis and vital concepts in mineralogy and petrology.

Understanding Polyhedral Diagrams part of Spatial Thinking Workbook:Teaching Activities
Carol Ormand Ph.D., Carleton College
Students identify individual polyhedra in a variety of diagrams and answer questions about shared oxygens in diagrams of common silicate structures.

Is it a Mineral? part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
Sara Harris, University of British Columbia

An Electron Microprobe in the Classroom: A Remote-Access System for Education part of NAGT:Our Resources:Teaching Resources:Teaching Materials Collection
Ellery Frahm, University of Minnesota-Duluth
In 2003, the University of Minnesota's Electron Microprobe Laboratory implemented a new system for remote research and education via the Internet. The remote-access system allows real-time access to our ...

Gestures for Miller Indices part of Spatial Thinking Workbook:Teaching Activities
Carol Ormand Ph.D., Carleton College
Students use one hand to gesture crystallographic axes and the other hand to represent planes designated by Miller Indices.

Modeling Exsolution (and Perthite Formation) as an Example of Complex-System Behavior part of Complex Systems:Teaching Activities
Dave Mogk, Montana State University-Bozeman; Barb Dutrow, Louisiana State University
Students use a physical model, computer simulation, examples from the natural world, visualizations, and overarching thought experiments to explore this phenomenon. Exsolution embodies attributes of a complex ...

Single crystal X-ray diffractometer study of carbonate minerals and its relationship to their unit cells part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
James MacDonald, Florida Gulf Coast University
In this activity, undergraduate students will prepare carbonate samples (calcite and rhodochrosite) for analysis by a single crystal X-ray diffractometer (SCXRD). The SCXRD analysis will determine the unit cell ...

Mineral Recalculation Using Remote Electron Microprobe Analysis part of Activities
Sven Holbik and Rosemary Hickey-Vargas, Florida International University
This in-class activity uses the remote capabilities of the electron microprobe (EM) system with wavelength dispersive spectrometry (WDS) available through the Center for Analytical Electron Microscopy (FCAEM; fcaem.fiu.edu) at Florida International University in Miami FL, to introduce students to microprobe analysis, determine the major chemical elements in a mineral, use the chemical data to calculate the exact chemical formula of the mineral and to plot this data on a binary phase diagram for interpretive discussions. This instructor led activity is intended as a whole-class demonstration of the EM with WDS analysis of minerals. The remote user will navigate the EM stage to find phases of interest, acquire images of phases, set up multiple points for analysis, and disseminate collected data for students to answer questions given in lab assignment.