TEACHING MINERALOGY

John B. Brady, Cavid W. Mogk, and Dexter Perkins III, Editors 

A collection of exercises, activities and methods for teaching mineralogy that was assembled, classroom-tested, and reviewed by participants in an NSF-sponsored Teaching Mineralogy Workshop held at Smith College in June 1996  

Teaching Strategies 

Using Cooperative Learning to Teach Mineralogy (and Other Courses, Too!)

Physical Properties of Minerals and Determinative Techniques, An Introduction to Cooperative Learning

Mineral Classification - What's in a Name?

A Term-Long Mineralogy Lab Practical Exam

Field Notes

Accessing Mineralogical Information 

Exercises with Mineral Names, Literature and History

Short Readings from the American Mineralogist: Sneaky Tools for Teaching Scientific Reading Comprehension and Mineralogical Concepts

Wondering, Wandering and Winnowing: The WWW and Mineralogy

Experimental Mineralogy 

Crystal Growth Fast and Slow

Growing Crystals on a Microscope Stage

Mineral Synthesis and X-ray Diffraction Experiments

Making Solid Solutions with Alkali Halides (and Breaking Them)

Phase Fun with Feldspars: Simple Experiments to Change the Chemical Composition, State of Order, and Crystal System

Determination of Chemical Composition, State of Order, Molar Volume, and Density of a Monoclinic Alkali Feldspar using X-ray Diffraction

Exercises in the Geochemical Kinetics of Mineral-Water Reactions: The Rate Law and Rate-Determining Step in the Dissolution of Halite

Phase Diagrams in Vivo

Experiments on Simple Binary Mineral Systems

Crystallography 

Computer Generated Crystals with SHAPE

Miller Indices and Symmetry Content: A Demonstration Using SHAPE, A Computer Program for Drawing Crystals

Crystal Measurement and Axial Ratio Laboratory

The Use of Natural Crystals in the Study of Crystallography

The Metrical Matrix in Teaching Mineralogy

From 2D to 3D: I. Escher Drawings, Crystallography, Crystal Chemistry, and Crystal "Defects"

From 2D to 3D: II. TEM and AFM Images

A Fun and Effective Exercise for Understanding Lattices and Space Groups

Construction of Crystal Models and Their Graphic Equivalents

Building Crystal Structure Ball Models Using Pre-drilled Templates: Sheet Structures, Tridymite and Cristobalite

Directed-Discovery of Crystal Structures Using Ball and Stick Models

Optical Mineralogy 

Minerals and Light

Experiments in Crystal Optics

Laboratory Exercises and Demonstration with the Spindle Stage

Crystal Chemistry 

Introduction to the SEM/EDS or "Every Composition Tells a Story"

Color in Minerals

Minerals, Geology and Society 

Better Living through Minerals: X-ray Diffraction of Household Products

Asbestos: Mineralogy, Health Hazards and Public Policy

Introduction to the Properties of Clay Minerals

Mineral Separation and Provenance Lab Exercise

Selected References for Teachers of Mineralogy