Minerals and Rocks

The past few weeks our class has been studying Rocks and Minerals.  First we learned three ways scientists determine what type of mineral it is:  color from the outside, color it makes when given a streak test, and the hardness of the mineral.

We did a Hardness Lab first.  The students made three columns labeled Fingernail, Penny, and Steel Nail.  They used all three ways to scrape each mineral to determine if it could be scratched.  They learned there were a few minerals that were very fragile and scraped off easily with their fingernail, but there were also ones that were extremely hard and even a steel nail could not scrape through it!

The next day we did a Streak Test Lab.  Each student was able to make a streak across a piece of tile and record what color the mineral left behind.  We had lots of fun with both labs.

This past week we learned the three types of rocks: Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic.  They sang a Rock Cycle song to the tune of "We Will Rock You!"  We will definitely try to sing that song again this next week as we will learn about Fossils.  Stay tuned!!!