4th/5th Grade-Week 2 Moh's Hardness Scale

http://www.donorschoose.org/David.Gantt 

2nd Lab Week

Concept: Moh's Hardness Scale and More Physical Properties of Rocks

Objective: Students will examine the physical properties of quartz, gypsum, fluorite and calcite (ie. hardness, streak, cleavage, etc).

Vocabulary:

hardness

cleavage

streak

magnetic
geologist

minerals

physical property

texture

luster

metallic

nonmetallic

mass

•What are some physical properties of rocks?

•What is Moh's Hardness Scale?

•How do you test the hardness of a mineral?

BrianPop.com video of the week: Mineral Identification

Reading Before Class: FOSS Science Resources pgs 190-201 & 214-219.

metallic

non-metallic

cleavage

fracture

streak

CA State Science Standards

4. The properties of rocks and minerals reflect the processes that formed them. As a basis for understanding this concept:

4b. Students know how to identify common rock-forming minerals (including quartz, calcite, feldspar, mica, and hornblende) and ore minerals by using a table of diagnostic properties.

Physical Properties of Minerals/Rocks Review

• color
• shape
• size- diameter, circumference, depth
• texture- how a mineral/rock feels ("rough" "smooth")
• luster- how a mineral/rock reflects light ("metallic" "nonmetallic")
• mass
• hardness- how hard a mineral is ("1" to "10")
• streak- the color of the powder left behind when you rub the mineral on a tile
• magnetism- ("magnetic" "nonmagnetic")
• cleavage- the way a mineral breaks ("cleavage"-breaks flat/"fracture"-breaks unevenly)