Stage 1 � Desired Results

							Lesson Title: Mineral Identification

Discipline Focus: How to Identify a Mineral

Grade level: 8th

Length of lesson: 1 week

                         Stage 1 – Desired Results
Content Standard(s): The American Association for the Advancement of
Science (AAAS) 2061 Benchmarks for Science Literacy


Understanding (s)/goals                      Essential Question(s):
Students will understand: the properties          What are the 6 properties used in
used to identify a mineral, what they              identifying a mineral?
mean, how they work, and what order you           How are those 6 properties used?
should go in when doing the steps for             What order do they go in?
identifying a mineral.                            What does each property mean?

Student objectives (outcomes):
Students will be able to:

    - Use the 6 properties discussed in class to identify any mineral given
    - Be able to identify the 6 properties and describe what they are
    - Understand how to use the 6 properties to identify the mineral

                             Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
Performance Task(s):                         Other Evidence:
Students will fill out a mineral worksheet        Students will fill out practice
that uses the 6 properties to identify a           worksheets prior to the mineral
total of twenty different minerals.                worksheet to test their knowledge
Students will then take a test containing          of mineral identification.
15 of those minerals which, while open
notes, is timed.

                              Stage 3 – Learning Plan
Learning Activities:

   1. Materials and Resources: Minerals (various), nail, penny, glass, streak plate,
      mineral ID worksheet

   2. Lecture describing the 6 properties used to identify minerals, what they are and
      how they are used: 20-25 minutes
      Practice identifying 1 mineral with help from teachers: 20-25 minutes
      Practice Mineral ID worksheet: Two 45 minute class periods
      Mineral ID Worksheet (for grade): Four 45 minute class periods
      Mineral ID Test: One 45 minute class period
3. We will start the lesson by giving students one mineral which they will have to
   apply the 6 properties to in order to solve. The students will be prepared for the
   task by listening to the prepared lecture on the 6 properties. Students will also
   have access to their books, which includes a key for using the 6 properties to
   identify minerals. Students will have 20-25 minutes to solve that one mineral,
   during which time the teachers will provide help as needed. The following
   section of the lesson, students will be given time to practice identifying 10
   unknown minerals on a practice worksheet. This will not be collected, and again
   the teachers will help as needed. Once it appears that students are
   understanding mineral identification, the next part of the lesson is to give
   students a Mineral ID worksheet which will be turned in at the end of the week.
   They will be required to identify 20 new minerals which they haven’t seen
   before, with little to no help from the teachers. Students will be expected to
   memorize or know these minerals very well by the end of the week, so that they
   can be successful on the test. To complete the lesson, the Mineral ID test will be
   given the next week. It consists of 15 mineral samples. Students will be given a
   minute and 30 seconds to identify each mineral, and they will have full access to
   all the tools necessary and their books. Key questions used to generate
   discussion include: Why do some minerals shine but aren’t necessarily metallic.
   What is cleavage vs. fracture? How can some minerals be the same sample
   when they look so different? What does this tell us about color?

4. Closing activities: Discuss what the students learned while working on their
   mineral labs. The Mineral ID test is the final closing activity to ensure that the
   students have learned the minerals. They will also turn in their Mineral ID
   worksheet with the 20 minerals that they identified, and that will be graded.