Liberty S.

Mineral Identification Report

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Carol Crystal

Do you think the steps below of the scientific method must be followed in order? YES, because If you do not follow the scientific method you could mess us the experiment. 1. State the problem (the objective in the form of a question). 2. Gather information. 3. Form a hypothesis. 4. Experiment! 5. Record and analyze data. 6. Form a conclusion. 7. Communicate results.

Now that you are done researching and identifying your mineral fill-in the information for each step of the scientific method below. Then, number which step was first, second, etc. Objective: Use the steps of the scientific method to identify a mystery mineral. Materials: -Computer -Internet -Streak Plate -Mr. Finan 1. Mr. Finan let us pick our mineral. 2. Find your minerals streak. 3. Find your minerals hardness. 4. Find your minerals density. -Book -Paper -Word -Pencil 5. Guess your mineral from research. 6. Use the web to help find your mineral. 7. Type all info into sheet. 8. Tell your guess to Mr. Finan.

Procedure:

1. State the problem. (Hint: Just write the objective above in the form of a question.)
How do you use the steps of the scientific method to identify a mystery mineral.

2. Gather information. (Look it up and/or ask an expert) *see the attached Mineral Identification Data Sheet 3. Form a hypothesis. Write a statement that tells what mineral you think yours is (your two guesses). My prediction is Quartz and Quartz Crystal.

4. Start the experiment! (Follow the procedure.) 5. Record and analyze data. *see the attached Mineral Identification Data Sheet 6. Form a conclusion. This must be a paragraph that includes:
An answer to the problem (question 1). How your hypothesis compares with the actual results. (Was your hypothesis correct? If not, how close were you?) A description of your mineral and what helped you find the identification of your mineral the most.

In science class, we used the scientific method to find a mystery mineral's true identity. First, Mr. Finan let us pick our mystery mineral. Then, you found the streak, hardness, and density of your mineral. With this research, we used the internet to find out our mineral's identity. Then, you guessed your mineral, typed all your guesses and answer into your information sheet, and then tell Mr. Finan your answer. My hypothesis was quartz, but quartz was not good enough because there are over 70 types of quartz. So, I guessed quartz crystal, and I was right. This mineral was white and had lots of cleavage. It was low in density, and it tested a level 8 in hardness. Also, my minerals streak was clear and white. A website on Mr. Finans blog called http://webmineral.com/Alphabetical_ Listing. shtml#.UFnfjY3N_-k helped me find most of my
WCS 6th Grade Science

information. All in all, that is how you can use the scientific method to find a minerals true identity.

7. Communicate your results. Post this report and your Data Sheet where people can see it !

WCS 6th Grade Science