Critical Minerals Summit

This activity was designed for a majors Mineralogy/Earth Materials course at William & Mary. Prerequisites for this course include an introductory geology course and associated lab. There is no introductory chemistry prerequisite for this course.

Before beginning the activity, students must have gained familiarity with:

• The periodic table and concept of ionic sizes,
• Conventional notation for mineral formulas
• Relative element abundances (major, minor, trace) in the crust and mantle
• The basics of the rock cycle and the three different types of rocks (sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic) as covered in an introductory geology course, for example. 

In my course, these topics are introduced or re-introduced the weeks prior to the activity. However, modified versions of this assignment (e.g., for a non-majors cross-listed course) may be carried out without introduction to all of the above listed concepts, and the activity could be modified to allow a focus on different aspects of critical minerals (e.g., economic vs. mineralogical).

This activity is used in the first 3 weeks of class as a stand-alone exercise closing the first section of the course that introduces the definition of a mineral, covers the of the period table, and mineral formulas.

The content/concept learning objectives for this activity are for students to:

1. Explore and become familiar with the societal significance of mineral resources (specifically, critical minerals) in their geological, human, and geographic/geopolitical context. This activity allows students to be exposed to less-commonly discussed elements and minerals that, nevertheless, are key players in their everyday lives and on the global economic stage. I use this activity as an anchor throughout the remainder of the course to help students connect the real-life applications and uses of minerals and earth materials to course content.
2. Apply and place concepts of major, minor, and trace elements to minerals in the context of mineral resources and integrate data about elemental abundances in the earth's mantle and crust with their place in mineral formulas. Students reflect on the relative amount of material that needs to be extracted (relatively large) to produce a given amount (relatively small) of the element of interest.

Pre-activity:

Students must research, critically evaluate, and report the results of their research with the class.

During the activity: 

Students must analyze both written and spatial data, synthesize aggregated information and make large-scale observations to extract trends and themes surrounding the topic of critical minerals (e.g., geographic distribution and connection to geologic processes; role of different geologic processes in forming and concentrating critical minerals; key players and industries in the use of critical minerals; types of environmental and human impacts of mineral extraction and processing)

1. Students practice researching, gathering and evaluating information from internet sources.
2. Students practice working in small groups, sharing and communicating the results of their research orally in a low-stakes/low pressure environment.

Note: Both items above are used as practice and scaffolding for students' final semester project in my course, which requires them to research a given mineral in depth, produce a 'Mineral Passport' and present their findings to half of their class, in a conference-like poster session setting. However, this activity could constitute scaffolding for many other course deliverables requiring students to practice researching, as well as oral communication in a low-stakes setting.

This activity has two components: a short pre-lecture research assignment, and an in-class, ~50+ min lecture-long role-play, scenario-based jigsaw/gallery walk activity.

Pre-activity assignment:

Prior to coming to class, students are randomly assigned one of the elements on the USGS 2022 'Critical Minerals' list, and must find information on five (5) specific topics with regards to their element (See 'Pre-Activity Assignment' File). Students are asked to bring notes of their findings to class (for a longer class period, this research phase could be done in-class).

In-class activity:

Introduction (5-10 minutes): Students are welcomed to the '202x Critical Mineral Summit' (year to be changed accordingly), and presented with the following scenario:

• Students are designated experts in a given critical mineral resource, as determined by the 2022 USGS report. They have been gathered here to share their expertise regarding these key resources.
• Students are (re)introduced to the definition of a critical mineral as per the 'Energy Act of 2020', which defines a 'critical mineral' as a "non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic or national security of the U.S. and which has a supply chain vulnerable to disruption." Critical minerals are also characterized as "serving an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, the absence of which would have significant consequences for the economy or national security."
• I highlight that these commodities are socially defined as 'Critical' from a US economic and political standpoint (i.e., the list may be different for different countries). 

Students are them tasked with sharing their invaluable expertise with the other experts in the room, navigating through five stations (as defined by the pre-assignment research topics) before gathering back as a group to synthesize key themes surrounding critical minerals. Students are assigned in small groups of 4-5 students, each representing elements from different groups in the periodic table (lanthanides/REEs, alkaline metals, transition metals, etc.) and circulate around the room populating the different stations with information.

Jigsaw/gallery walk phase (25 minutes): in teams, students spend ~5 minutes at each station reporting on the results of their research using small sticky notes and/or small pieces of paper (color-coded by element group) that they place around prompts placed across the classroom (see teaching notes for more information).

Regroup, reflection and synthesis (15-20 minutes): students return to their seats. In small groups, students are asked to reflect on major themes, or key observations they made about critical minerals. In the last 10 minutes of lecture, each group shares some of these ideas back with the class at large. I take notes of the ideas formulated by the students and post them to the course lecture notes for the day. If students struggle to come up with key themes or observations, reflection prompts can be provided to help them formulate their ideas (see 'Reflection Prompts' file).

Critical Minerals Summit Pre-Activity Research Assignment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 19kB Aug18 25) 
CMS Lecture Slides (keynote) ( 32.7MB Aug18 25) 
CMS Lecture Slides (powerpoint) (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 37MB Aug18 25) 
CMS_Reflection_Prompts (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 19kB Aug27 25)

1) Adaptability: this activity is highly adaptable based on specific course topics and needs: the five research questions I set my student up for are adapted for my course topics and learning objectives, but can be adapted to specific instructors' courses by changing the pre-activity research questions. Please feel free to modify as needed, to best fit your specific course.

2) Class size: The course for which this activity was designed has a typical enrollment of 32 students – the list of 50 critical minerals is therefore well suited for this class size, but the activity is scalable to smaller classes as well as larger classes (e.g., for classes of more than 50 students, assign 1 element per student pair, etc.). This activity will still work for smaller class sizes, as long as elements from each group of the periodic table are represented.

3) Logistics: I highly recommend distributing post-it notes and paper cut into small pieces to each group, and to use paper with different colors as to color code each student group by the element group they are assigned to in the periodic table (e.g., blue post-it notes and paper = transition metals, orange = REEs/lanthanides, etc.). This can be especially useful with large class sizes. Another option would be to provide students with different color markers or pens based on their element group. If done virtually (e.g., using Jamboard or equivalent), students can use different color text to differentiate answers from each element group.

3) World Map: In my classroom, I project a world map (see support slides) at the front of the class and get students to put up sticky notes with their elements on the projected map/wall. This could easily be done virtually by having students put symbols on an editable image such as the world/geologic map I use, or other support with context information best suited to the course topic. Alternatively, a large printout map can be used and placed on a table/bench or pinned to the wall.

4) Venn Diagram: In my classroom, I draw a large Venn diagram for igneous/sedimentary/metamorphic rocks and processes and have students write out their element abbreviation to indicate which process(es) is/are involved in forming their element. This could also be done on a large notepad/note board or other large piece of paper.

5) Common misconceptions: students can be originally confused by the difference between minerals/elements. For clarity's sake, I introduce the definition of a critical mineral in the introductory part of lecture, and have students note that these 'minerals' are all individual elements (i.e., they can be through of as native metals), however they rarely occur as individual elements in nature, even though they are called 'minerals' here. To avoid any further confusion, I try my best to refer to the elements as 'elements' in the assignment, but let the students know that these are more often elements hosted in minerals, and that they may hear me using the terms interchangeably. Each instructor may decide to tackle this specific issue differently – but I do believe it is important to clarify upfront what language will be used during the activity to avoid confusion.

A formative assessment is used to monitor student engagement and understanding during the course of the activity. The course instructor and any TA(s) walk around the room monitoring student progress, making sure they understand the assignment and clarifying any instructions as needed.

Group reflection notes may be collected at the end of class to ensure students participated fully in the activity, to correct any misconceptions or misunderstanding at the beginning of the following lecture and reinforce key themes brought forward by the class as a whole.

1) DoE Energy Act of 2020: https://www.directives.doe.gov/ipt_members_area/doe-o-436-1-departmental-sustainability-ipt/background-documents/energy-act-of-2020

2) USGS 2022 Critical Minerals list/report (with links to useful research starting points for students embedded in the list): https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/us-geological-survey-releases-2022-list-critical-minerals

3) Mindat Search Minerals by Chemistry: https://www.mindat.org/chemsearch.php