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In this lab, you will dive into the amazing world of minerals! Minerals are the building blocks of rocks, but they are also so much more. In fact, chances are that rocks and minerals play a role in your day-to-day life! Think about the buildings, roads, and technology you use every day – many of them are made using rocks and minerals. Glass, cement, metals, and even the graphite in pencils all come from rocks and minerals! Minerals can even be food – for example, table salt comes from the mineral halite!

In this activity, students will begin by sorting and comparing different mineral samples. This will help your students begin thinking about the similarities and differences between minerals – an important step in learning to identify minerals. Then, students will learn about the physical properties of minerals. Your students will love testing minerals for acid reactions, magnetism, streak, and more! Finally, end this lab by attempting mineral identification.

In this post, you will learn how to set up a minerals lab in your classroom. You can also get printable versions of these directions, worksheets, handouts, and directions to use during this lab in my Minerals Mini Study or in my complete Rocks and Minerals Unit!

Materials (per lab group)

• Mineral Sample Set
  • Assemble your own test kit with any 10+ mineral samples (e.g., feldspar, quartz, calcite, halite, muscovite, pyrite, magnetite, gypsum, amphibole, and pyroxene)
• Mineral Test Kit (assemble your own, or purchase a pre-made test kit)
  • Hand lens or microscope
  • Black and white streak plates
  • Magnet
  • Glass plate or nail
  • Copper coin
  • Eye dropper/acid bottle
  • Juice of a lemon
• Scale
• Beaker of water
• Mineral info, such as these Double-sided Mineral Flashcards
• Student worksheets
• Permanent marker (for instructor use only)
• Tiny labeling stickers (for instructor use only)

Set Up

1. Label the mineral samples with numbers. This can be done with small labeling stickers and a permanent marker.
2. Place a set of minerals at each lab station.
3. If you do not have access to mineral samples, it is possible to complete parts 1 and 2 only of this lab using mineral picture cards like these instead.
4. Assemble the test kits, which you will use for parts 3 and 4 only. Each lab group should have one of each: hand lens/microscope, magnet, beaker of water, scale, lemon juice with eye dropper, streak plate, glass plate, and copper coin.

Part 1: Sorting Minerals

1. Ask students to look over the mineral samples and pick them up, feel them, etc.
2. Students should sort the minerals. Which minerals:
   • Are light colored?
   • Are dark colored?
   • Are see-through?
   • Look like metal?
   • Are soft or breakable?
   • Are hard?
   • Have flat surfaces?
   • Are jagged or rough?
3. Students may record their answers in Part 1 on the student worksheet, available here.

Part 2: Compare and Contrast

1. Students will compare and contrast pairs of minerals. You should select up to 6 pairs of minerals for students to compare and contrast.
2. Write the pairings you selected on the board for the students to see, using the minerals’ numbers rather than their names. Below are some good pairs for this part, but work with what is available to you.
3. For each pairing, students should find at least one difference and one similarity.

• Feldspar and quartz
• Calcite and halite
• Muscovite and gypsum
• Pyrite and magnetite
• Quartz and gypsum
• Amphibole and pyroxene

Part 3: Physical Properties of Minerals

1. Briefly explain the physical Properties of Minerals: color, streak, luster, hardness, magnetism, acid reaction, density, cleavage/fracture, and crystal form. More info on these properties can be found in this blog post.
2. Then give the students time to examine each mineral for each property. Work through one property at a time, examining all minerals for the property.
3. Students should use a table to record each physical property for each mineral.
4. Below are a few key things to keep in mind as you teach the physical properties of minerals:

Mineral physical properties – key reminders

1. Color: do not rely on color alone to identify a mineral. This property varies a lot and can be deceiving.
2. Streak: scratch the mineral across both black and white streak plates like sidewalk chalk. Please note that some minerals will leave no streak at all.
3. Luster: this is a descriptive property, describing the “shininess” of a mineral. A mineral’s luster is described using words like “glassy”, “metallic”, “dull”, “sparkly”, and more.
4. Hardness: scratch a mineral against each of the items from the Mohs hardness scale (fingernail, coin, glass plate, streak plate). If the item scratches the mineral, then the mineral is softer than the item. If the mineral scratches the item, then the mineral is harder than the item. The streak plate can be confusing, because minerals that are harder than the streak plate do not leave behind any streak.
5. Magnetism: perhaps the most straightforward property, this simply means whether or not the mineral is attracted to a magnet.
6. Acid reaction: a drop of two of lemon juice should be enough to observe a reaction with calcite.
7. Density: use the scale to measure the mass of a mineral. Then place the mineral into a beaker of water. The volume of water displaced is equal to the mineral’s volume. Density equals mass divided by volume.
8. Planes of cleavage, fracture and crystal form: these can be challenging properties for beginners, and may be skipped. For advanced groups, teach these properties and include them under the “other properties” column on the observations worksheet. You can read more about these properties here.

Part 4: Mineral ID

1. If you attempt this step, keep in mind that mineral identification is challenging, especially for beginners, and may not be possible for all samples in a classroom setting.
2. Students will need to compare their recorded observations to a list of known physical properties for various minerals, such as these mineral ID flashcards.
3. Then, students should make an educated guess on the identity of each mineral sample.

Rocks and Minerals Unit

All of the lessons and materials seen in this post can also be found in my complete Rocks and Minerals Unit.

Explore curriculum from Wild Earth Lab:

If you enjoyed this post, I know you will love using my environmental science materials in your classroom!

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References and Further Reading

1. Earle, S. (2019). Physical Geology. BCcampus Open Education. (Chapter 2). Available: https://opentextbc.ca/physicalgeology2ed/
2. Johnson, C., Affolter, M.D., Inkenbrandt, P., & Mosher, C. (2017). An Introduction to Geology. Salt Lake Community College. (Chapter 3). Available: https://opengeology.org/textbook/
3. Plummer C.C., Carlson D.H., & Hammersley L. (2019). Physical Geology. McGraw-Hill Education. (Chapters 1-2).

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