Minerals: Primary unit

An Acknowledgement of Country is a statement that pays respect to the Traditional Custodians of the Country that you are learning or meeting on and recognises their ongoing relationship with Country. The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal people as the Custodians of the land on which the Museum stands.

Which First Nations Country or Nation was your school built upon? If you are unsure contact a local First Nations organisation to find out. You might like to start with the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group.

Ask your students to write an Acknowledgement of Country for your school. To get them started, read more about why an Acknowledgement of Country is important and how to write one in this ABC article.

Find a partner and together decide what a mineral is.

Now, look around your classroom and find as many minerals as you can.

How did you go? Did anyone find the graphite in their pencil? Or the wolframite in a light bulb? Perhaps there is quartz in your watch? Maybe you are wearing some gold or silver jewelry?

The list below describes what minerals are most of the time. But there are exciting exceptions!

1. Minerals are solid. However, there is one liquid mineral- mercury.
2. Minerals have a well-ordered internal atomic structure. Ice, for example, is a mineral, but water isn’t because its structure is not stable.
3. Minerals are made by natural Earth processes. But there have been minerals found on the Moon!
4. Minerals are inorganic. For example, amber is not a mineral because it is formed from fossilised tree resin which is an organic material.
5. Minerals have a fixed chemical composition. They are like cakes that are always made with the same specific ingredients.

Minerals are formed when elements in the Earth come together. A mineral can be made from a single element or a combination of elements. Rocks are made up of minerals, similar to the cookie ingredients example below.

Rocks are formed in one of three ways:

1. Rocks made by magma
   
   When volcanoes erupt, hot melted rocks called lava flow out from inside the earth. This lava cools and hardens to form volcanic igneous rocks.
   
   Sometimes the hot melted rocks get trapped deep under the earth and cool and harden there. They are igneous rocks too but are called plutonic igneous rocks.
   
   
2. Rocks made by the build up of sediment
   
   Weathering is the process where rock is dissolved, worn away or broken down. Smaller sediments are then moved by ice, water, wind or gravity through a process called erosion. The eroded material is then cemented or pressed together to make sedimentary rock.
   
   
3. Rocks made when other rocks change
   
   Hot melted rocks inside the earth are called magma. Rocks that are next to magma get ‘cooked’, forming contact metamorphic rocks. This is rather like the ingredients of a cake changing when they are put in an oven.
   
   Rocks also change when they are squashed down and heated by the gradual movements of the earth's crust. These cooked, squashed rocks are called regional metamorphic rocks.

With a partner, find out about one of the minerals below. What did you discover?

Do you know who studies rocks and minerals? People who study the Earth are called geologists, people who study minerals are called mineralogists and people who study rocks are called petrologists.

Meet the Australian Museum Mineralogy and Petrology Collections Manager – Ross Pogson. Read the story below to learn about Ross and his work.

Watch the story Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnall.

Now it’s your turn!

Find a rock or mineral that interests you. Remember to take your time and look carefully. (You may even like to wear some gloves and use a small digging tool).

When you find your specimen, brush away any dirt and make a note of where and when you found it.

Look carefully…

Hold your specimen in your hands:

• Describe the texture. (Example: Does it feel smooth or rough?)
• Describe the shape. (Example: Is it round or angular?)
• What makes it special? (Example: Are there any grooves or markings?)
• What does it smell like?

Now, hold it up to the light:

• Is it shiny or dull?
• Is it transparent, translucent or opaque?

Finally, use a magnifying glass to look closely:

• What colours can you see?
• Describe the grains that are visible.
• Can you find any patterns?

Draw a top, side and front view of your specimen and label any details you notice.

Take some photos of your specimen using the camera on an iPad. (Don’t forget to zoom in to catch details!). Print your photos and keep them in your workbook.

Rock and roll

Is your specimen round and smooth?

Learn why a river pebble (and perhaps your specimen) is round: Why are river pebbles round?

Weathering is the breaking down of rocks and minerals on the surface of the Earth. Water, wind, and ice can cause weathering.

Can you think of some other agents of weathering? (Example, temperature changes).

Water, wind, and ice can also cause erosion. Erosion is the movement of bits of rocks and minerals from one place to another.

What human activities cause erosion? (Example, walking on bush tracks)

Model the processes of weathering and erosion by trying the sugar shake experiment for yourself!

Volcano made

Have you found a volcanic rock? Watch this video to learn more about rocks from volcanoes.

Have another look at your specimen… Are there any vesicles?

Remember, when volcanoes erupt, hot melted rocks called lava flow out from inside the earth. This lava cools and hardens to form volcanic igneous rocks. For example, when lava cools rapidly it may become obsidian.

Visit and explore our Minerals exhibition which showcases rocks and minerals from Australia and around the world.

We have also a range of free learning resources to support your visit, which you can access below.

Set in the Australian Museum’s spectacular Minerals gallery, this practical program explores the building blocks of planet Earth.

Students will work in groups to compare, describe, and identify rocks and minerals. They will learn about the formation of different rocks and investigate the special properties of some minerals.

Visit the Minerals Education Coalition Mineral Resources Database. (This site may be able to help you identify your rock or mineral).

Browse the database and compare and contrast your specimen with those pictured online.

Or, just for fun, choose a rock or mineral that interests you and learn more about it!

Find out more about your specimen by investigating the following:

• What is its size in centimetres and millimetres?
• How much does it weigh?
• Is it magnetic?
• Does it leave a colour when you run it along a piece of paper?
• Does wetting it with water change its colour?
• Does it float or sink in water? OR How long does it take to sink in water?
• Does it glow in the dark?
• Does it fluoresce under ultraviolet light?

Think of one more test that you would like to conduct.

1. Write your investigation question.
2. Plan a test to answer your question.
3. Predict what the result will be.
4. Perform your test.
5. Compare your result to your prediction.

Record all your findings in your workbook.

Grab your specimen and form a team with six or seven of your classmates. Share what you have learnt about your specimen and listen to your team members share what they have learnt about their specimens.

Discuss the similarities and differences between the rocks.

Group the specimens (for example, order by size, sort by colour) and label the grouping with a sticky note. Take a photo of your arrangement using the camera on an iPad before re-grouping the specimens to represent other patterns you notice.

Design a dichotomous key for identifying each team member’s specimen. Swap keys with another team and put your key and problem-solving skills to the test!

The hardness of a mineral is its resistance to being scratched.

With four classmates (and their specimens), design an experiment to determine which specimen is the hardest.

Here are some ideas to help you get started: shaking the rocks, dropping the rocks, rubbing the rocks with different materials (such as sandpaper), scratching the rocks with different objects (such as a coin or paperclip).

Write up your experiment using the following subheadings:

1. Aim: what are you going to investigate?
2. Prediction: what do you think will happen?
3. Variables: what are you going to change, keep the same and measure?
4. Equipment: what materials will you need?
5. Method: what are the steps you will follow? (Tip: include diagrams or photos).
6. Results: what happened? (Tip: use a table, graph, diagram or photo).
7. Conclusion: can you explain your results?

Reflect on your experiment.

• What worked?
• What would you differently next time?

Remember, it’s okay if your experiment didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to – science can surprise! Keep looking at the world around you, asking questions and conducting investigations.

An exhibition in a museum normally tells a story through objects, specimens, models, sounds, text, digital platforms, art, pictures and/or archival sources. A student-curated exhibition for your classroom or school would give great scope for object-based learning giving opportunities for students to investigate objects in ways that encourages collaboration, research, and discussion.

Students can set up their own exhibition about rocks and minerals. Follow our scaffolded activity page to create your own exhibition in the classroom.

Vote on a name for your class exhibition and suggest how the specimens might be grouped when displayed. (Example: by size, colour, place found).

Write a label for your rock or mineral and make a box to present it in. (Note: Your label should be no more than a paragraph and you may want to refer to the notes in your workbook. Please plan, draft, proofread and edit your writing before publishing).

Invite your family and other classes to visit your exhibition.