Sixth Grade Science Students Enjoy the Outdoor Learning Lab

Sixth graders used the new outdoor learning lab as a place to investigate minerals.  The shaded, cool, cemented area was a great place to test minerals for hardness, luster, streak, and any reaction they may have had to an acid.    Students used Mohs Scale to conduct a scratch test using their fingernails, a penny, and a nail to determine the hardness of five mystery minerals.  They observed the color of the streak that was left on a tile and whether or not the mineral rock was attracted to a magnet.  A reaction to vinegar was also a characteristic students were watching for.   Finally, students referred to a Mineral Identification Key to make final conclusions on which minerals they were identifying.  Talc, magnetite, calcite, quartz, and halite were the mystery minerals.