Victoria L.

Mineral Identification Report

Lepidolite

Do you think the steps below of the scientific method must be followed in order? Yes, because the reason they created the scientific method was to know to do certain things in a particular order. (Exceptions apply) 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: -Mineral -A magnet to see if it was magnetic -Streak Plate -Other minerals to see if they were harder than it -My eyes to find color and luster -My hands to find out how dense my mineral was - My fingers to find cleavage and fracture

Procedure: 1. Mr. Finan gave me a mineral. 5. Next I picked up my mineral to observe how dense it was. 2. I went to a lab table and did the streak test. 6. Then I used my eyes to determine color and luster. 3. Next I picked up a magnet to test if it was magnetic. 7. Next, I began my research online. 4. Then I used the minerals in the boxes provided to see how hard my mineral was. 8. Finally, I used google images to confirm my guess.

1. State the problem. (Hint: Just write the objective above in the form of a question.) How can I use 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). I am predicting that my mineral will be Lepidolite or Fluorite. 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 recently did a mineral identification lab in which we used the scientific method to identify a "mystery" mineral. You can use the scientific method to identify a mystery mineral by following the instructions, which wi ll resemble the scientific method to some extent. First, I did the streak test, a special properties test, and I used my eyes to judge color and luster. Then I used the websites Mr. Finan provided. I also used Google images to confirm my guess. After running those tests, I made a hypothesis. My hypothesis was that my mineral would be either lepidolite or fluorite, and it turned out to be lepidolite. This mineral was purple and sparkly, making it easy to identify. In addition, it had a pearly and earthy luster. Another thing that helped a lot was streak because no other mineral that looked like mine had a white streak. The website thtp://www.minerals.net/mineral/lepidolite.aspx that Mr. Finan gave me was what helped me the most because it provided a beautiful image of my mineral that matched exactly. In conclusion, this experiment was very fun, and I am glad my guess was correct.

7. Communicate your results. Post this report and your Data Sheet where people can see it!
WCS 6th Grade Science