Picture this scenario:

You are sitting at home on the weekend bored out of your skull. Everyone else in the house seems to have something to do, except you. The obvious thing to do is to switch on the TV or the computer and let an impersonal screen entertain you while your brain wastes away!

Let me give you a healthy alternative. Simple science projects. Wait - before you run - science projects ain't necessarily hard work and boring!

I am a scientist by trade - and in my opinion, science rocks! Think of NASA - yup, full of scientists. Another example? - When the name Einstein is mentioned, no matter who you are there is a glimmer of awe that shoots through your now almost immobile brain (that is if you watch too much TV).

The Westernized world needs to wake up to the fact that, although computers and TV are fantastic tools for brain stimulation if used correctly, abuse of them has the opposite effect. What I am talking about here is a healthy balance.

"That is great", you say, "I see your point - but where do I start?"

Good question - let's face it, as much as many of us would like to, we cannot all go and grace the halls of NASA with our extreme scientific knowledge, and certainly most of us would not be able to apply our minds as Mr. Einstein did - but we can all still do science. This is because science is all around us. In fact science IS us (think about it)!

So let me give you a starting point - switch off the TV - go outside and start observing. This is where all the great scientific discoveries started.

To help you even further, here is a list of "problems" you can try and figure out using stuff around the house:

• How would you make a simple burglar alarm using some electrical flexi-wire, a battery and it's holder, a buzzer, a clothes peg and 2 thumb-tacks?
  
• How would you get drinking water out of leaves of plants using a box, a cup, a piece of plastic sheeting, some duct-tape and a rock?
  
• How would you make a simple compass using 2 sewing needles, some cardboard and a magnet?

Have I wet your scientific curiosity? I hope so.

Do you need the answers to the above problems? Well, here is where the computer, and specifically the internet, comes in handy. Start the scientific process by doing some investigating - yup the answers and methods for each of the problems above are online. I know because I put them there.

"Let's do science."

By Neil Madgwick -
Passionate about science!
Website: http://www.good-science-fair-projects.com

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Mineral identification is done by checking for certain properties of minerals. Because each mineral has its own unique set of physical properties we can test a specimen and find out how it exhibits these properties. This list of characteristics along with a good field guide will improve your chances of identifying mineral specimens.

Some of the tests can be performed easily in the field, while others require laboratory equipment. For the beginning student of geology, there are a number of simple tests that can be used with a good degree of accuracy on common minerals. These tests are listed below. An explanation of each test follows.

The following physical properties of minerals can be easily used to help identify a mineral specimen:

1. Color
2. Streak
3. Hardness
4. Cleavage or Fracture
5. Crystalline Structure
6. Diaphaneity or Amount of Transparency
7. Magnetism
8. Luster
9. Specific Gravity

Color

Most minerals have a distinctive color that can be used for identification. In opaque minerals, the color tends to be more consistent, so learning the colors associated with these minerals can be very helpful in identification. Translucent to transparent minerals have a much more varied degree of color due to the presence of trace minerals. Therefore, color alone is not reliable as a single identifying characteristic.

Streak

Streak is the color of the mineral in powdered form. Streak shows the true color of the mineral. In large solid form, trace minerals can change the color appearance of a mineral by reflecting the light in a certain way. Trace minerals have little influence on the reflection of the small powdery particles of the streak.

Hardness

Hardness is one of the better properties of minerals to use for identifying a specimen. Hardness is a measure of the mineral's resistance to scratching. The Mohs scale is a set of 10 minerals whose hardness is known. The softest mineral, talc, has a Mohs scale rating of one. Diamond is the hardest mineral and has a rating of ten. Softer minerals can be scratched by harder minerals because the forces that hold the crystals together are weaker and can be broken by the harder mineral.

Cleavage & Fracture

Minerals tend to break along lines or smooth surfaces when hit sharply. Different minerals break in different ways showing different types of cleavage.

Cleavage is defined using two sets of criteria. The first set of criteria describes how easily the cleavage is obtained. Cleavage is considered perfect if it is easily obtained and the cleavage planes are easily distinguished. It is considered good if the cleavage is produced with some difficulty but has obvious cleavage planes. Finally it is considered imperfect if cleavage is obtained with difficulty and some of the planes are difficult to distinguish.

Fracture describes the quality of the cleavage surface. Most minerals display either uneven or grainy fracture, conchoidal (curved, shell-like lines) fracture, or hackly (rough, jagged) fracture.

Crystalline Structure

Mineral crystals occur in various shapes and sizes. The particular shape is determined by the arrangement of the atoms, molecules or ions that make up the crystal and how they are joined. This is called the crystal lattice. There are degrees of crystalline structure, in which the fibers of the crystal become increasingly difficult or impossible to see with the naked eye or the use of a hand lens. Microcrystalline and cryptocrystalline structures can only be viewed using high magnification. If there is no crystalline structure, it is called amorphous. However, there are very few amorphous crystals and these are only observed under extremely high magnification.

Transparency or Diaphaneity

Diaphaneity is a mineral's degree of transparency or ability to allow light to pass through it. The degree of transparency may also depend on the thickness of the mineral.

Magnetism

Magnetism is the property of minerals that allows a mineral to attract or repel other magnetic materials. It can be difficult to determine the differences between the various types of magnetism, but it is worth knowing that there are distinctions made.

Luster

Luster is the physical property of minerals that indicates how much the surface of a mineral reflects light. The luster of a mineral is affected by the brilliance of the light used to observe the mineral surface. Luster of a mineral is described in the following terms:

Specific Gravity

Specific Gravity of a mineral is a comparison or ratio of the weight of the mineral to the weight of an equal amount of water. The weight of the equal amount of water is found by finding the difference between the weight of the mineral in air and the weight of the mineral in water.

These are not foolproof tests. It pays to perform these tests more that once to improve accuracy. Even so mistaken identification is common even with the use of this list of physical properties of minerals. Many minerals are only slightly different in physical properties and can be easily confused. The same mineral may have several different forms leading to more confusion. Still these properties of minerals give us a starting place for identifying common mineral specimens.

Learn more about the properties of minerals at http://www.rocksandminerals4u.com/properties_of_minerals.html - You will also find Information, activities, and lesson plans on rocks, minerals, and crystals designed for students and teachers at http://www.rocksandminerals4u.com or buy mineral specimens at http://www.fossilicious.com/Rocks-Minerals-c-284.html

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