Your students' task will be to locate information on each of these minerals and input the necessary information into their database. The source of information can be science textbooks, the internet, CD-ROMs, mineral books, and anything else available in your local library. Once the information has been located and put it into the database, students are ready to attempt to use this database to identify the minerals. In order to identify the minerals, students will need to understand the termonology being used for the various mineral tests. Name , of course, refers to what a mineral is called.
Some minerals have more than one common name.
These names might vary depending upon the location where the mineral was found. Color is referring to the appearance of the mineral by just looking at it. Some mineral may have a wide range of colors. Color is not the best criteria for identification. Luster refers to the way light is reflected from the surface.