Rocks and Minerals
Lesson 10
Exploring the Hardness of Minerals
Students explore minerals to learn more about their properties by performing the hardness test and recording their results.
3. Lesson set up and Management
EALR 1.1 Understand how properties are used to identify, describe, and categorize substances, materials and objects and how characteristics are used to categorize living things.
GLE 2.1.1 Understand how to ask questions about objects, organisms and events in the environment.
(345) Identify the question being answered in an investigation.
GLE 2.1.2 Understand how to plan and conduct simple investigations following all safety rules.
(345) Follow all safety rules during investigations.
(345) Identify and use simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses.
GLE 2.1.5 Understand how to report investigations and explanations of objects, events, systems and processes.
(345) Report observations or data of simple investigations without making inferences.
Easily included:
GLE 2.2.1 Understand that all scientific observations are reported accurately and honestly even when the observations contradict expectations.
(345) Explain why scientific observations are recorded accurately and honestly.
(345) Explain why scientific records of observation are not changed even when the records do not match initial expectations.
- Students will conduct a test to explore the hardness of the mineral samples.
Scratch testing - How hard is each
mineral?
3. Lesson set up and Management
Materials:
- The sorting mat blackline master can be reproduced and used to help the students keep track of their ideas.
Student Management:
- Assign one partner to be the materials manager and have that student pick up the materials from the materials center after you model how to do it.
- PROCEDURE #5
- Have the information about "soft, medium and hard" listed on the board or in the word bank for easy assess during student testing.
- FINAL ACTIVITIES #4
- Avoid having students share which mineral has which name. This will halt the inquiry process for the rest of the students. Instead focus on which test results/observations helped them reach a conclusion. This will allow other students to look at the same results, analyze them and hopefully make a conclusion of their own.
Writing Support:
- Students will record their observations on their Mineral Profile sheets.
- Students record three important pieces of information about diamond and talc in their science notebook.
- Students can respond to this reflection question at the end of the lesson in their science notebook - Why might your group's results be different then another group's? Share two reasons why.
Reading Support:
- There is information to read on page 38 of the student activity book about the minerals, diamond and talc. This is a great chance for students to partner read and record information in their science notebooks as they read to help them identify these minerals.
Math Support:
- Students can create a fractional representation of their result. For example, "5/12 of my mineral samples were soft." Have them draw a picture to represent the fraction.