Earth's Minerals (Book)
MINERALS
You use objects that are made from minerals every day, even if you do not realize it. You are actually eating a mineral when you eat food that contains salt. You are drinking from a mineral when you drink from a glass. You might wear silver jewelry. The shiny metal silver, the white grains of salt, and the clear glass may not seem to have much in common, but they are all made from minerals (Figure). Silver is a mineral. Table salt is the mineral halite. Glass is produced from the mineral quartz
Just looking at that list you see that minerals are very different from each other. If minerals are so different, what do all minerals have in common?
Silver is used to make sterling silver jewelry. Table salt is the mineral halite. Glass is produced from the mineral quartz.
Standards
- SCI-MS.ESS2.01 Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
Vocabulary
Lesson Objectives
- Describe the properties that all minerals share.
- Describe some different crystal structures of minerals.
- Identify the groups in which minerals are classified.
