Earth and Life Science 45 MINS

Lesson 6: Minerals and Rocks

Content Standard
The learners demonstrate an understanding of the three main categories of LESSON OUTLINE
rocks.
Introduction Communicate Learning Objectives 3
Learning Competency
Motivation Review stock knowledge about 5
The learners shall be able to make a plan that the community may use to
minerals
conserve and protect its resources for future generations. The learners shall be
able to identify common rock-forming minerals using their physical and Instruction Discussion 22
chemical properties (S11/12ES-Ia-9).
Practice Activity on Mineral Identification 15
Specific Learning Outcomes
Materials
At the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to
(1) Mineral Decision Tree, Mineral Identification Charts
1. Demonstrate understanding about physical and chemical properties of
minerals Resources
2. Identify some common rock-forming minerals
(1)Laboratory Manual for Physical Geology – Mineral
Identification. Retrieved from https://gln.dcccd.edu/
3. Classify minerals based on chemical affinity Geology_Demo/content/LAB03/LAB_Man_03.pdf
(2)Mindat.org. (n.d.). Definition of rock-forming
minerals. Retrieved from
http://www.mindat.org/glossary/rock-
forming_mineral
(3)Monroe, J. S., Wicaner, R. &Hazlett, R. (2007). Physical
Geology Exploring the Earth (6th ed., pp. 80-90). Pacific
Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
(4)Prestidge, D. (2012, May). Earth: Portrait of a planet
(Chapter 5 - Patterns in Nature: Minerals). Retrieved from
http://www.slideshare.net/davidprestidge/earth-lecture-
slide-chapter-five
(5)How to identify mineral. Retrieved from http://
www.instructables.com/id/How-to-identify-a-Mineral/
46 step3/Hardness/
INTRODUCTION (3MINS) Teacher Tip:
Communicate learning objectives Cite examples of minerals used in our daily
lives: halite (salt) for cooking, graphite
1. Introduce the following learning objectives using the suggested protocols (Verbatim, Own Words, (pencil) for writing, diamond and gold as
Read-aloud) jewelry, etc.

A. I can identify and describe the different properties of minerals.

B. I can group the minerals based on chemical composition.
C. I can identify several common rock-forming minerals.
2. Enumerate the five important properties which define a mineral.
A. Mineral — a naturally occurring (not man-made or machine generated), inorganic (not a by-
product of living things) solid with an orderly crystalline structure and a definite chemical
composition
B. Minerals are the basic building blocks of rocks.
MOTIVATION (5MINS)
Questions for the learners
1. Do you consider water a mineral?
Answer: No. It is not solid and crystalline.
2. How about snowflake, or tube ice? Are these minerals?
Answer: Tube ice is not a mineral, because it is not naturally occurring. But a snowflake possesses all
the properties under the definition of a mineral.

INSTRUCTION DELIVERY (22MINS)

MINERAL PROPERTIES
1. Use table salt or halite to demonstrate the different mineral properties.
2. Tabulate the answers on the board using the template below.

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 Mineral Name Halite (table salt)

Chemical composition NaCl

Luster Non-metallic – vitreous; transparent to transluscent

Harndess Soft (2-2.5)

Color White

Streak White

Crystal Form / Habit Cubic

Cleavage Perfect cubic

Specific Gravity Light (2.2)

Other Properties Salty taste; very soluble; produces reddish spark in flame

There are several different mineral properties which must be identified and defined.
1. Luster – it is the quality and intensity of reflected light exhibited by the mineral
a. Metallic – generally opaque and exhibit a resplendent shine similar to a polished metal
b. Non-metallic – vitreous (glassy), adamantine (brilliant/diamond-like), resinous, silky, pearly, dull
(earthy), greasy, among others.
2. Hardness – it is a measure of the resistance of a mineral (not specifically surface) to abrasion.
a. Introduce students to the use of a hardness scale designed by German geologist/mineralogist
Friedrich Mohs in 1812 (Mohs Scale of Hardness).
b. The Mohs Scale of Hardness measures the scratch resistance of various minerals from a scale of
1 to 10, based on the ability of a harder material/mineral to scratch a softer one.
c. Pros of the Mohs scale:
i. The test is easy.
ii. The test can be done anywhere, anytime, as long as there is sufficient light to see scratches.
iii. The test is convenient for field geologists with scratch kits who want to make a rough
identification of minerals outside the lab.
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 d. Cons of the Mohs scale:
i. The Scale is qualitative, not quantitative.
ii. The test cannot be used to accurately test the hardness of industrial materials.
Mohs scale of Hardness

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/df/fa/6c/dffa6c9f697edd062da51204c6a03211.jpg

3. Crystal Form/Habit
The external shape of a crystal or groups of crystals is displayed / observed as these crystals grow in
open spaces. The form reflects the supposedly internal structure (of atoms and ions) of the crystal
(mineral). It is the natural shape of the mineral before the development of any cleavage or fracture.
Examples include prismatic, tabular, bladed, platy, reniform and equant. A mineral that do not have
a crystal structure is described as amorphous.

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4. Color and streak
a. A lot of minerals can exhibit same or similar colors. Individual minerals can also display a
variety of colors resulting from impurities and also from some geologic processes like
weathering.
b. Examples of coloring: quartz can be pink (rose quartz), purple (amethyst), orange (citrine),
white (colorless quartz) etc.
c. Streak, on the other hand, is the mineral’s color in powdered form. It is inherent in almost
every mineral, and is a more diagnostic property compared to color. Note that the color
of a mineral can be different from its streak.
d. Examples of streak: pyrite (FeS2) exhibits gold color but has a black or dark gray streak.
Color vs streak of a hematite (Fe2O3). Source:
e. The crystal’s form also defines the relative growth of the crystal in three dimensions,
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-
which include the crystal’s length, width and height. identify-a-Mineral/step6/Streak/ (8/30/2015)

i. Activity: Show the pictures to the learners and try to identify the crystal forms /
habits. Provide more pictures if needed.

Crystal form / habit. Source: http://www.slideshare.net/davidprestidge/earth-lecture-

slide-chapter-five page 46 of 74 (8/30/2015)

Answer: Left picture: blocky/cubic or equant (it has equal growth rate in three
dimensions). Middle picture: bladed habit (it resembles a blade, with varied
growth rates in 3 dimensions). Right picture: needle-like habit (rapid growth of
crystals in one dimension while slow in other dimensions).

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5. Cleavage – the property of some minerals to break along specific planes of weakness to form
smooth, flat surfaces
a. These planes exist because the bonding of atoms making up the mineral happens to be weak in
those areas.
b. When minerals break evenly in more than one direction, cleavage is described by the number of
cleavage directions, the angle(s) at which they meet, and the quality of cleavage (e.g. cleavage in
2 directions at 90°).
c. Cleavage is different from habit; the two are distinct, unrelated properties. Although both are
dictated by crystal structure, crystal habit forms as the mineral is growing, relying on how the
individual atoms in the crystal come together. Cleavage, meanwhile, is the weak plane that
developed after the crystal is formed.

6. Specific Gravity – the ratio of the density of the mineral and the density of water
a. This parameter indicates how many times more the mineral weighs compared to an equal amount
of water (SG 1).
b. For example, a bucket of silver (SG 10) would weigh ten times more than a bucket of water.

7. Others – magnetism, odor, taste, tenacity, reaction to acid, etc. For example, magnetite is strongly
magnetic; sulfur has distinctive smell; halite is salty; calcite fizzes with acid as with dolomite but in
powdered form; etc.

MINERAL GROUPS
1. Ask the students if they think minerals can be grouped together, and the basis for such groupings.
Most likely answer: on the basis of physical properties.
Response: Although physical properties are useful for mineral identification, some minerals
may exhibit a wide range of properties.

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2. Minerals, like many other things, can also be categorized.
The most stable and least ambiguous basis for classification of minerals is based
on their chemical compositions.

Element Element Element Element Element Element

Element
+ SiO4 + O2 + SO4 + S2 + CO3 + Halogens

Native Silicate Oxide Sulfate Sulfide Carbonate Halide

Gold Quartz Hematite Gypsum Pyrite Calcite Chlorine

Bismuth Olivine Magnetite Barite Galena Dolomite Fluorine

Diamond Talc Chromite Anhydrite Bornite Malachite Halite

The elements listed below comprise almost 99% of the minerals making up the
Earth’s crust.

Element Symbol % by weight of Earth’s crust % atoms

Oxygen O 46.6 62.6

Silicon Si 27.7 21.2

Aluminum Al 8.1 6.5

Iron Fe 5.0 1.9

Source: Monroe, J. S., et al, Physical Geology Exploring
Calcium Ca 3.6 1.9 the Earth, 6th ed., 2007, p90

Sodium Na 2.8 2.6

Potassium K 2.6 1.4

Magnesium Mg 2.1 1.8

All other elements 1.4 <0.1

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1. Silicates – minerals containing the two most abundant elements in the Earth’s crust, namely, Note
silicon and oxygen. 1. Rock-forming minerals make up large
masses of rocks, such as igneous,
a. When linked together, these two elements form the silicon oxygen tetrahedron - the sedimentary, or metamorphic rocks. Rock-
fundamental building block of silicate minerals. forming minerals are essential for the
classification of rocks, whereas accessory
b. Over 90% of rock-forming minerals belong to this group. minerals can be ignored in this endeavor.
2. Oxides – minerals composed of oxygen anion (O 2-) combined with one or more metal ions 2. Almost 85% of the atoms in the earth’s crust
are oxygen and silicon. Therefore, the most
3. Sulfates – minerals containing sulfur and oxygen in the form of the (SO4)- anion
common and abundant rock-forming
4. Sulfides – minerals containing sulfur and a metal; some sulfides are sources of economically minerals are silicates. Some carbonates are
important metals such as copper, lead, and zinc. also abundant. The most common rock-
forming minerals are tabulated on the right.
5. Carbonates – minerals containing the carbonate (CO3)2- anion combined with other elements
6. Native Elements – minerals that form as individual elements
a. Metals and Intermetals – minerals with high thermal and electrical conductivity, typically
with metallic luster, low hardness (gold, lead)
b. Semi-metals – minerals that are more fragile than metals and have lower conductivity
(arsenic, bismuth)
c. Nonmetals – nonconductive (sulfur, diamond)
7. Halides – minerals containing halogen elements combined with one or more metals

PRACTICE (15MINUTES)
Activity: How to identify minerals.
Present the Mineral Decision Tree to the class, as a visual guide in explaining the methods used by
geologists to identify minerals.. Source: https://gln.dcccd.edu/Geology_Demo/content/LAB03/
LAB_Man_03.pdf, pp.24-30
1. Show a mineral sample (or picture) that the class will try to identify.
2. Use the diagram below to narrow down the mineral choices into groups A to F. Then refer to
the provided mineral chart for the list of possible minerals.
3. Test the other properties provided in the chart to identify the mineral.

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Ask the students in groups to identify one or more minerals. Or ask individual students to come to the
front to demonstrate the process of identification to the class.

a. Provide all students with a copy of the mineral charts.

b. Provide a mineral sample (can be an actual mineral, or a picture). You may also begin by supplying
some properties needed to identify the mineral.

ENRICHMENT
1. Homework, to be submitted next meeting: List five minerals and their common uses. Identify the
specific property/properties that makes the mineral suitable for those uses. For example, graphite,
having a black streak and hardness of 1-2, is used in pencils due to its ability to leave marks on
paper and other objects.

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EVALUATION
1. Summarize the different characteristics that define a mineral.
Answer: inorganic, naturally occurring, crystalline, solid and must have a consistent chemical composition.
2. Which among the following mineral groups, if any, contain silicon: halides, carbonates or sulfides? Explain.
Answer: None. The identified mineral groups are nonsilicates.
3. Which is more abundant in the Earth’s crust: silicates or all the other mineral groups combined? Explain.
Answer: Silicates. Silicon and oxygen are the main components of silicates and these are the two most abundant elements in the Earth’s
crust.
4. An unknown opaque mineral has a black streak and has a density of 18g/cm3. Is the mineral metallic or non-metallic?
Answer: The mineral is more likely to be metallic because it is opaque and metallic minerals are usually heavy and with dark streaks
5. How does streak differ from color, and why is it more reliable for rock identification?
Answer: Streak is the color of a mineral in powdered form. It is more reliable because it is inherent to most minerals. Color is not reliable
because a mineral can be formed with varieties of color, an effect of impurities and weathering.
6. Differentiate between habit and a cleavage plane.
Answer: Habit is the external shape of a crystal that is developed during the formation of the mineral. A cleavage plane is a plane of
weakness that may develop after the crystal formation.
7. Is it possible for a mineral to have a prismatic habit without having any cleavage? Why or why not? If yes, give an example.
Answer: Yes, the prismatic habit is simultaneously developed while the mineral is growing. During the process, there is no repetitive
plane of weakness being created which makes the mineral break only by fracturing. An example of this scenario is quartz.
8. Define “rock-forming mineral,” and give three examples.
Answer: A rock-forming mineral is a mineral that is common and abundant in the Earth's crust; one making up large masses of rock.

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