Rocks and Minerals
Lesson 9
Exploring the Luster of Minerals
Students explore minerals to learn more about their properties by performing the luster test and recording their results.
3. Lesson set up and Management
INQD: Simple instruments, such as magnifiers, thermometers, and rulers provide more information than scientists can obtain using only their unaided senses.
PS2A: Objects have properties, including size, weight, hardness, color, shape, texture, and magnetism. Unknown substances can sometimes be identified by their properties.
PS2B: An object may be made from different materials. These materials give the object certain properties.
- Students will conduct a test to examine how the mineral samples interact with light.
Testing the luster - What is the luster of each mineral sample?
3. Lesson set up and Management
Materials:
- Make sure the penlights are all working before you begin this lesson.
Testing the luster - What is the luster of each mineral sample?
- You will need to collect samples of objects with metallic luster, waxy luster, glassy luster and dull luster to use with this lesson.
- 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.
- Have bags of the example objects ready for each set of partners to use after you have discussed a few as a class together. The students gain a much better understanding of the terms they will use for this lesson if they can experience examples of metallic, nonmetallic, dull and waxy luster first hand with familiar objects. This will help them construct a meaningful definition for the word bank.
- PROCEDURE #3
- Add the lesson # to the upper right-hand corner of all your teacher generated charts. When you are asked to refer back to the chart throughout the unit, the lesson # will make it easier.
- Use your flip chart for teacher generated charts instead of newsprint or use newsprint and laminate them before adding student generated information so they can be used year after year.
- FINAL ACTIVITIES #3
- 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.
Testing the luster - What is the luster of each mineral sample?
- Students record three important pieces of information about galena and gypsum in their science notebook.
Reading Support:
- There is information to read on page 34 of the student activity book about the minerals, galena and gypsum. 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 create a picture graph based on their results.