Our first two weeks of school have been colorful, shiny, streaky, volumous, and very rocky! As we have been learning about “what good scientists do”, we have also been using our observation skills (and science sleuthing capabilities) to collect important data about mysterious minerals by observing their physical properties using hand lenses, and then using our data to identify the names of the minerals by comparing our data to scientific mineral charts. Our first exploration allowed us the use of hand lenses to observe actual minerals in our classroom- we identified their color, streak, luster, and hardness. Next, we repeated this process in a “virtual” science lab on the internet in a program called Gizmos, and we conducted density tests (by finding the mass and volume of the unknown minerals and then dividing the two measurements using calculators), and acid tests (which was a favorite for many students). We culminated all of this hands-on lab experience with researching and reading in our textbook, Chapter 8 Lesson 1: What is a Mineral? Our next venture will be to explore, compare and contrast sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. Many “rocky” roads lie ahead!
For those students who would love to earn extra Behavior Bucks, revisit Gizmos at home and identify mystery mineral “W”. Secretly tell your science teacher (Mrs. Phillips or Mr. Pinchot) the name of this mystery mineral, and you will earn $5 extra bucks to spend at our next auction! (Shhhh-don’t tell your friends and classmates. They need to read this blogpost and visit Gizmos all on their own in order to earn these special, extra bucks!) Happy science sleuthing!
The sleuthing has begun...
ReplyDeleteso far this lab is really fun i hope there is more
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