Mineralogy #1 - Crystals & Gems

By definition, all minerals have a crystal shape. Geology meets Geometry when you study the crystal shapes of minerals. Atoms make elements, elements make minerals, and minerals make rocks; the definite regular, repeating patterns of the atomic arrangements in crystalline solid matter is what makes minerals (and crystals) so unique.

Here are the resources we used for learning about crystals and gems inside the world of minerals.

These 3D cut-and-assemble mineral shapes were perfect for getting hands on with 3D mineral shapes.

Fun crystal facts with worksheet and video was a good independent assignment.

Crystalline structure and gems activities and worksheets was packed with good stuff for really understanding it all.

I used this Cuts of gemstones page for information for a notebooking page, including the graphic of the different cuts. I pulled out some jewelry and we matched cuts and shapes.

History, photos, information galore on gemstones was super helpful for learning about mineral gems vs. organic gems and anything and everything we wanted to know and see about gemstones. I used it for information for notebooking pages as well as for just looking and matching stones, cuts, etc.

We also made a page for our notebooks using the scriptures Proverbs 8:10-11, Proverbs 3:13-15, and Proverbs 31:10. I gave the kids lots of sparkly, glittery fingernail polish to embellish their pages with.

She painted a book of scriptures as one of her embellishments.

Experiments:


Making Borax crystal snowflakes is easy and very cool. As you can see, I let my kids use whatever color pipe cleaner they wanted and they could make it into whatever shape they wanted as well. Each child did their own, including mixing their own solution.

It didn't take long at all for the solution to begin crystallization. 

When they were finished I hung them in a sunny window.

I love that the crystals were so large and sparkly in the sunshine.

We did other crystal experiments with Epsom salts, as well as making rock candy, and we did a few cheap kits with other minerals we found at the dollar store. Unfortunately I can't share photos of all the fun because these particular pictures are on a crashed hard drive.  :(  When playing with all these crystals it is important to make sure that your kids understand that sugar crystals are organic, not mineral.