Mineral Mystery Lab - Student Handout

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Colorado State University, Fort Collins *

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121

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Geology

Date

Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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GEOL 121 Name________Christian Malloy_____________- Lab Section__________________ MINERAL MYSTERY LAB Learning Objectives At the end of this lab students will be able to: ● Observe characteristics of minerals. ● Describe differences in physical properties of minerals ● Use physical properties to identify minerals. ● Develop and produce a system for identifying different minerals via a flow chart. Introduction Ultimately, geology is about storytelling; we can think of the entire Earth’s history as a book, the pages in the book are filled with stories that we developed by looking at the rocks that form our planet. Minerals that make up those rocks help us identify the rocks, so we can tell their stories. We also use minerals in our lives every day, often without even noticing. Minerals are in your cell phone, your car, your countertops (well, some of our countertops anyway) and even your walls. So, not only do minerals help us tell Earth’s story but they also help make our modern lives possible. Minerals come in all shapes, colors, and sizes but they share common characteristics that we can use to sort them into groups. In this lab, you take on the role of a mineralogist by testing various physical properties, sorting minerals into categories with similar characteristics, and then creating a flowchart to use to identify minerals. 1

Mineral Mystery Lab GEOL 121 Step 1: Search for clues Observe the grid of minerals in front of you. None of them are currently named - that’s okay! Before we get into labeling, let’s take a close look at each of the minerals. Q1 . What are some physical characteristics that multiple minerals share? What are three different ways that you could divide these minerals into 2–3 groups based on those characteristics? Light or Dark Group 1 characteristic: light Group 2 characteristic: Dark Group 3 characteristic: dark Mineral(s): A,K,E,F,G, C,B Mineral(s): D,H,I,L,J Mineral(s): Transperensy Group 1 characteristic: solid Group 2 characteristic: transparent Group 3 characteristic (optional): Mineral(s): A,K,D,E,F,H,I,J Mineral(s): C,B,G Mineral(s): Shine or no shine Group 1 characteristic: shine Group 2 characteristic: no shine Group 3 characteristic (optional): Mineral(s): C,E,I,J,B Mineral(s): A,K,D,F,G,L,H Mineral(s): Once you have come up with three different ways to divide these minerals into groups based on their physical characteristics, compare the groups you made with the other pair of students in your small group. What groups are the same? What groups are different? Is there more than one valid way to group the minerals? Q2 . Take a look at the tools next to your mineral grid. Try out some of these tools on your minerals. Some tools are for getting a closer look at the minerals, some are for scratching the minerals, and some are for checking the streak a mineral makes. The HCl bottle is used 2

Mineral Mystery Lab GEOL 121 to check for effervescence (i.e. a fizz reaction). Are there any similarities between how different minerals interact with particular tools? What are some other ways that you could divide these minerals into 2–3 groups, based on those similarities? Magnetic and Not magnetic Group 1 characteristic: Magnetic Group 2 characteristic: not magnetic Group 3 characteristic (optional): Mineral(s): D, Mineral(s): A,K,C,E,F,G,H,L,I,J,B Mineral(s): Hardness Group 1 characteristic: harder than 5.5 Group 2 characteristic: softer than 5.5 Group 3 characteristic (optional): Mineral(s): A,K,D,E,L Mineral(s): C,F,G,H,I,J,B Mineral(s): Reaction to Acid Group 1 characteristic: No reaction Group 2 characteristic: reaction Group 3 characteristic (optional): Mineral(s): A,B,C,D,E,F,H,I,J,K,L Mineral(s): G, Mineral(s): Q3 . Compare the following pairs of minerals and list any differences that you notice between the two. Differences in terms of physical characteristics and differences in terms of interaction with tools are both valid! 3

Mineral Mystery Lab GEOL 121 Mineral A Mineral F harder then 5.5 color, white, pink, any color Streak: white/colorless glassy Conchoidal fracture common (F) white Softer than 5.5 No pattern Mineral B Mineral J Transparent Bright colorless to pale yellow/gold white/colorless glassy, milky Hardness: 2–2.5 Thin, elastic sheets of micas (J) not transparent Dark brownish Mineral C Mineral G Transparent Shiny No reaction to acid light Reacted to acid Not shiny Mineral D Mineral H Magnetic Harder than 5.5 Not magnetic Softer than 5.5 Mineral E Mineral I 4

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