A Last Look at Igneous Minerals in Thin Section
Summary
A final lab exercise that uses the optical mineralogy skills learned in the previous labs, and begins the transition to petrographic analysis of thin sections.
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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 14th of 36 mineralogy exercises and is used around the middle of the course.
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
- Learn to identify key igneous minerals in thin section.
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Other skills goals for this activity
- Improve skill with a petrographic microscope.
Description of the activity/assignment
This is a wrap-up exercise reviewing the properties of the most important igneous minerals in thin section.
Determining whether students have met the goals
More information about assessment tools and techniques.Teaching materials and tips
- This assignment can be downloaded in Word (RTF) (Microsoft Word 5kB Jun12 07) or pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 10kB Jun12 07) format.