Earth's Minerals (Book)
IDENTIFICATION OF MINERALS
How could you describe your shirt when you are talking to your best friend on the phone? You might describe the color, the way the fabric feels, and the length of the sleeves. These are all physical properties of your shirt. If you did a good job describing your shirt, your friend would recognize the shirt when you wear it. Minerals also have physical properties that are used to identify them.
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
- Explain how minerals are identified.
- Describe how color, luster, and streak are used to identify minerals.
- Summarize specific gravity.
- Explain how the hardness of a mineral is measured.
- Describe the properties of cleavage and fracture.
- Identify additional properties that can be used to identify some minerals.
