Warm-Up September 4 True or False

Ice is a mineral. Explain your answer.True. It is a solid Specific chemical composition (H20) Crystal structure (cubic)

Naturally occurring (not made by man) Inorganic (never alive)

Warm-Up September 5

The mineral on the left has a ______ luster,the one on the right, a ___________ luster.

metallic nonmetallic

MYP Unit Question: What’s a world without rocks? Area of Interaction: Human Ingenuity

Learner Profile: Thinker

Standard: Students will investigate the scientific view of how the earth’s surface is formed. Learning Target: Today I am learning about the properties of minerals because minerals are in everything around me.

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Where are they now?

Activator: Naica Crystal Cave – Mexico

Work Session Properties of Minerals Notes (continued) View mineral specimens

Properties of MineralsGeologists use

characteristics to tell one mineral from

another

Mineral Properties we will study

Luster Hardness

Cleavage Streak

Luster• Refers to the way light reflects

from the surface of the mineral.

• There are two types of luster - Metallic: looks like polished metal. –Nonmetallic: can be shiny or dull.

Pyrite has metallic luster

Quartz has nonmetallic luster

Hardness• Is measured by how easy it is to

scratch. • Geologists order the hardness by…

Moh’s Hardness Scale

If the reference mineral scratches your mineral, the reference mineral is harder than your mineral.

• Talc and Graphite are the softest minerals and can be scratched by a fingernail.

Talc Graphite

Gypsum is soft, it can be scratched by a fingernail.

Calcite is soft, but a little harder because it cannot be scratched by

a fingernail, but it can be scratched by a penny.

Fluorite is harder. It can be scratched by a nail, but not a

penny or fingernail.

Diamonds are the hardest mineral, so it scratches every mineral.

Cleavage/FractureCleavage - Some minerals split

easily along a flat surface.

Feldspar splits readily in two directions, always at or near right

angles.

Calcite and galena cleave in three directions.

They are said to have three good cleavages.

Fracture - an uneven break

Streak

• Red chalk - red marks. • White chalk - white marks. • Not all minerals work this way.

The color of a mineral in powdered form.

Gold• When gold is run

across a streak plate it makes a yellowish-gold color.

Pyrite or “Fool’s Gold”• When pyrite is

run across a streak plate, it has a black or dark green streak.

• fool’s gold.

Hematite• Hematite’s color is

grey, but its streak is red.

• The mineral was named hematite because it looked like it was bleeding when it was taken across a streak plate.

One mineral property we will

not use…COLOR

The least reliable.

A mineral can be many different colors. Below is Mica.

Fluoritehas many colors

Many minerals can be the same color. Below are gold colored minerals. Which one

is gold?

The answer…None of them

were real gold.

Other properties

Density – the ratio of the mass of a substance

to the volume of a substance.• How many atoms are in a

specific amount of space.• Density = mass

volume

Closing:

Turn to your table partner and share as many of the “other properties” of minerals that you can.