ONE APPROACH TO TEACHING CLASSICAL AND PRACTICAL ELEMENTS OF MINERALOGY

The traditional organization of mineralogy texts and courses follows the introduction with crystallography. Feedback indicates crystallography is the most intimidating part of the course to students taking their first advanced level geology course. A gentle alternative starts with a focus on hand sample identification with emphasis on occurrence and association, physical properties, chemical composition, and applications. All lab exams place the unknown mineral in geologic context. An early focus on mineral identification also prepares students for field trips earlier in the semester. Crystal chemistry, crystal structure and crystallography are the next focal areas in lecture and lab sessions. Students are eased into crystallography using transparent models containing color coded crystal axes and guided exercises to learn basic elements of symmetry, crystal systems, and classes. The next level of difficulty uses wooden models and minerals for identification of forms, systems and crystal classes. The mindat.org web site supports learning with interactive 3-D images of crystal forms and structures that allow rotation and labeling of crystal axes and elements. The mindat.org site also includes X-Ray diffraction patterns. A crystal structure and crystallography foundation sets the stage for understanding optical mineralogy. The focus switches to thin section study and the students apply their developing skills with the petrographic microscope to document the optical properties of a mineral they were assigned (paper and presentation) earlier in the semester. A thin section bearing the mineral was provided and students are required to document the basic optical properties with the images taken. Students take petrology the following semester and begin the course by producing their own manual of optical mineralogy images and characteristics of common rock forming minerals in thin sections reinforcing basics of optical mineralogy and petrology.