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Be a mineral expert - 3
The mineral foundations of everyday life

Minerals are essential for making most of the three of the photographs in the “Source mineral”
things we use every day. columns).
Ask pupils to carry out their own research to
If pupils have followed the Earthlearningidea enable them to do the matching exercise, as a
activities Be a Mineral Expert 1 and 2 they will be general knowledge activity, a class discussion, a
familiar with several minerals. Teachers will have websearch activity, or as a homework. With the
pointed out that minerals are composed of metal objects, they can be asked to name the
elements, and have a defined chemical main metal(s) used, and then the mineral ores
composition and atomic structure. from which the metals are obtained. When they
In this activity, pupils are asked to match pictures have sufficient information, ask them to lay down
of familiar objects with the mineral (s) from which their cards in the correct places on the Table and
the items are made. then tell you when they are ready to have their
Provide pupils with the sets of photographs on work checked. All the objects in the Table come
page 4 (cut into separate photos) and a copy of from the house and garage shown in this
the Table on which to lay out the photographs. photograph.
(Note that they will need more than one copy of

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Name/s & Section: _______________________________________________________________________________
Table – the mineral origins of some everyday items

Item shown in picture Component(s) Source mineral 1 Source mineral 2

The metal making up this
water pipe is:

......................................
Not needed

water pipe

The (light) metal from which

this kitchen foil is made is:

.......................................
Not needed

kitchen foil

The two metals forming the

different plates that act as
electrodes inside the battery
are made of:

......................................and

......................................
car battery

Two metals make the alloy

from which this dog is cast.
They are:

......................................and

......................................

bronze sledge dog statuette

Two metals make the alloy

from which this lock is
manufactured.
They are:

.....................................and

.....................................
brass lock

The main metal used is:

........................................

and the metal which is

alloyed to it for extra
hardness:

.........................................
high speed drill bits

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Item shown in picture Component(s) Source mineral 1 Source mineral 2
The chip which controls the
accuracy of the electronics in
this watch is made from:
Not needed
.....................................

watch

The material which makes up

the “lead” in the pencil (It is
NOT lead!) is:

........................................... Not needed

pencil

The common name of the

chemical which is added to
reduce tooth decay is:

............................................ Not needed

toothpaste

The chemical composition of

plaster is:

.......................................
Not needed

bag of plaster

The main constituent of this Not needed

product is:

........................................

table salt

Three metals make the alloy Source minerals 2

from which this knife is and 3
manufactured.
They are:

....................................and

................................... and
stainless steel knife
...................................

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Mineral photographs

bauxite cassiterite chalcopyrite

chromite fluorite galena

graphite gypsum haematite

halite pentlandite quartz

sphalerite wolfram

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The back up
Title: Be a mineral expert - 3 Pupil learning outcomes: Pupils can:
• work together in small teams to carry out
Subtitle: The mineral foundations of everyday life research on the composition of a range of
minerals;
Topic: A matching exercise, where pupils are • appreciate that many minerals have important
asked to match photographs of everyday objects economic uses;
with photographs of the minerals from which they • understand that metals are obtained from ores,
are manufactured. (or, rarely, from the native metal);
• (extension) identify the chemical content of
Age range of pupils: 11 – 16 years minerals from their formulae.

Time needed to complete activity: 10 to 30 Context: This activity can be used in a variety of
minutes, depending on the amount of background circumstances, e.g. in revision of a minerals topic
research which pupils might need to do. by relating photographs to some minerals which
pupils have already encountered. It could feature
in a geology lesson, or in discussion of the
mineral wealth of a country.
Possible answers are shown below:

Item shown in picture Components Mineral

water pipe copper chalcopyrite
kitchen foil aluminium bauxite
car battery lead; zinc galena; sphalerite
sledge dog statuette bronze = alloy of copper and tin chalcopyrite; cassiterite
lock brass = alloy of copper and zinc chalcopyrite; sphalerite
drill bits steel (from iron); tungsten; haematite; wolfram
The chip controlling the accuracy quartz slice of quartz crystal especially
of the electronics in a watch grown in factory
“lead” pencil graphite + clay graphite
toothpaste (active ingredient to a fluoride compound fluorite
reduce tooth decay)
bag of plaster plaster, CaSo4.½ H2O gypsum
table salt salt mainly halite
stainless steel knife steel (from iron); chromium; nickel haematite; chromite; pentlandite

Following up the activity:

Mineral Formula Mineral Formula Mineral Formula

bauxite Al2O3.2H2O galena PbS pentlandite 2FeS.NiS
cassiterite SnO2 graphite C quartz SiO2
chalcopyrite CuFeS2 gypsum CaSO4.2H2O sphalerite ZnS
chromite FeCr2O4 haematite Fe2O3 wolfram (Fe,Mn)WO4
fluorite CaF2 halite NaCl

• Pupils could be given a set of cards with the Underlying principles:

chemical formulae of the minerals (above) and • Minerals provide the raw material for a vast
asked to match them with the photographs of range of manufactured products.
the minerals. • A mineral is referred to as an ore if it contains
• Possible extension work at home would be for one or more elements, usually metal, in
the class to photograph other objects around sufficient concentration to be economically
the house or school and find out what minerals viable.
were needed for their manufacture. • Metals extracted from minerals are frequently
• All pupils could be asked to find out what alloyed (mixed) with other metals to improve
components are needed for a mobile phone, their physical properties, e.g. hardness or
and where the minerals come from to make strength.
them, in readiness for “Be a mineral expert – 4:
Recycle your mobile phone”. Thinking skill development:
Pupils build up a cognitive pattern as they work
through the photographs of the minerals. Some
examples may bring up a cognitive conflict.
Applying their skills to the economic value of
minerals is a bridging skill.

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Resource list: per small group: Useful links: www.earthlearningidea.com “Be a
• a copy of the Table mineral expert – 1, 2 and 4”
• copies of the photographs of minerals, to lay
down in the appropriate spaces on the Table. Source: This activity was devised and written by
Note: One photograph of each mineral is Peter Kennett of the Earthlearningidea team.
needed, except for chalcopyrite (3), sphalerite
(2) and haematite (2), where more than one
photograph is required.

The progression of thinking skills shown by the Earthlearningidea Mineral Expert activities
Earthlearningidea Strategies and skills developed
Be a mineral expert – I: Beginning to identify minerals – Observational skills are used to begin to identify minerals.
introducing colour, habit, lustre, cleavage
Be a mineral expert – 2: Identifying minerals using ‘action’ tests – Tests involving motor skills are added to purely visual ones,
streak, density, hardness, acid test leading to an understanding of the need for more data to be sure
of an identification.
Be a mineral expert – 3: The mineral foundations of everyday life A much wider range of minerals is introduced, together with their
chemical compositions, involving higher level thinking skills to
match them to their uses in the real world.
Be a mineral expert 4 – Recycle your mobile phone: Why should I An introduction to responsible citizenship, widening the scope
recycle my mobile (cell) phone? from the purely scientific to a mature understanding of the need
for recycling scarce materials.

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