Download Earth Science 100 Minerals: Building Blocks of Rocks

Earth Science 100
Minerals: Building Blocks of Rocks
Instructions: Use your textbook and the given web site to answer the following questions. Your answers
should be given in complete sentences except in cases where you are directed to simply provide a list.
Please check spelling and grammar before handing in your work. All submitted work must be typewritten.
1. What is the textbook’s definition of a “mineral”?
2. Using Figure 1.21 on page 34, identify the eight most common elements in the continental crust. List
them in numerical order from most abundant to least abundant.
3. What is the most abundant mineral group? What do all minerals within this group have in common?
4. Using Table 1.1 on page 36, list the names of the mineral groups considered as nonsilicates.
5. The Mineral Information Institute provides a reference web site describing common minerals and
their uses. Using this site (http://www.mii.org/commonminerals.html), select four minerals from the
given list. For each mineral that you select, provide the mineral name, a brief description of how the
mineral is used (in your own words!), and the name of the mineral group to which this mineral belongs.