Mystery Minerals!

Fifth graders in Mrs. Edgar's Science class did a lab on Mystery Minerals. They had to figure out the name of the mineral by using a streak plate to check the streak taht the mineral left, the color of the mineral, and the hardness of the mineral by using their fingernail, a penny and a nail. These were used to check for the hardness of the mineral. If the mineral could be scratched by a fingernail, then the mineral was soft(1-3), and if it was scratched by a nail, the mineral was hard.(7-9) The penny usually ranked the mineral somewhere in the middle of a 1-10 score. (6-7) After determining these three characteristics then they were to use a website called Minerals by Name to determine the name of the mystery mineral. They could also use their book, the lab paper, or the bulletin board in the back of the room to help with discovering the name of the mineral. Next they will go over the results together in class.