Teaching Mineralogy and Petrology Online

From the MSA Community via MSA-Talk

Suggestion 1

There is no way you can reliably identify hand samples from 2-D images posted on-line. I have tested myself with the images of ore sample posted on the SEG Newsletter website and I have failed badly (ca. 60% success rate). You could try it the other way around though and give the students properties of a mineral (without showing pictures) and ask them to identify it based on those properties (basically following a flow chart and using their textbook or appropriate websites) or you can combine the mineral picture with two or three additional properties (e.g. hardness, density, reaction to HCl, magnetism etc.) to help them identify it.

The microscopy portion is much easier because microscopy is practically 2D so you can post pictures of thin sections in PPL and XPL (or RL if needed) and ask them to identify minerals based on that. You might need to show several XPL pictures to cover parallel vs inclined extinction or if you don’t have that give them this information.

I like to give my students comparison questions to test whether they are able to tell minerals apart that are easily confused (e.g. how would you distinguish magnetite from ilmenite (or augite from hornblende, etc.) a) in hand sample; b) under the microscope; give two properties they have in common and one in which they are different).

Suggestion 2

When I did mineralogy quizzes at Harvard, I would say: “You can do one test. What would it be?” And then if the test was destructive (or whatever), I would just tell them the answer. So, you might set up some questions like:

• Is it heavy?
• Can I scratch it?
• Does it have a smell (sulfur, sphalerite)?
• How does it break if I hit it?
• Is it fluorescent?

Suggestion 3

Don’t forget Instagram, which is a platform almost all students are very familiar with and they can use from their phones, which they’re always looking at anyway! For those of you unfamiliar with Instagram, images and short videos are organized by hashtags. For example, I just checked and there are >17,000 images for #epidote alone! Just search for #thinsection or #petrography, or #petrology, and you will find many great pics, and of course many bad, useless pics. Many professional geologists post regularly, and with accurate captions. Check out @alexstrekeisen for a huge library of thin section pics, and @drrhcmadden for many megascopic images.

1. Public access Mineralogy/Mineral Science/Earth Materials videos by MSA members and others to supplement classes in mineralogy and petrology. Students anywhere can use these to study, or instructors can use them for their courses.
   Keith Putirka and Rachel Teasdale are collecting and posting these brief (mostly <10 min) videos for the community to use to supplement classes in Mineralogy, Earth Materials and Petrology. They expect to post at least 5-10 new videos each week and welcome new contributions as the site would be greatly strengthened by a diversity of ideas and contributors. If interested, contact contact Keith Putirka or Rachel Teasdale for more details, and take a look at the videos posted thus far (or Khan’s videos at Khan Academy). They look forward to your participation in using or contributing to the video collection!

From Ethan Baxter:

Every Rock Has a Story

1. 1. 1. Ethan’s YouTube Channel with 44 episodes
      2. Parent/Teacher Guide to the Videos
      3. Ethan’s website with additional teaching resources

From Mike Sammartano:

What is Earth Science?

1. 1. 1. YouTube Channel exploring minerals with 8 episodes
      2. YouTube Channel on geology, astronomy, and meteorology

From the University of Texas at Dallas YouTube Channel:

1. 1. Introductory video on lithium

1. 1. Mineralogy (2020) (Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota)
   2. Online images, animations, and videos from Mineralogy & Optical Mineralogy (Dyar, Gunter & Tasa)
   3. Online interactive petrology text (Brady). For access:
      • Username: jbrady-guest
        Password: ReadMyT3xt
   4. Principles of Stable Isotope Geochemistry, 2nd Edition (Zachary Sharp, University of New Mexico)
   5. Guide to Thin Section Microscopy (Raith, Raase & Reinhardt)
   6. Teaching Mineralogy (Brady, Mogk & Perkins)

1. Euhedra: Interactive Crystal Models for Teaching Symmetry

1. Searchable catalog of 3D digital models hosted on Sketchfab.com as a Google Sheet. Models include minerals, igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. Should you need to cite this catalog, please use: Andrews, Graham, Brueseke, Matthew, Himelstein, Anna, & McFarland, Robert Ian. (2020). Sketchfab.com rock & mineral catalog (Version 1.0) (Data set). Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3988525.
2. Sketchfab Rocks and Minerals (Dexter Perkins)
3. Sketchfab Volcanology and petrology Lab (West Virginia University)
4. Sketchfab Geologic Models + rock features (Lina Jakaite)
5. Sketchfab Rocks, rock features (Daren Nelson)
6. Sketchfab Rocks (Rolley)
7. Sketchfab Rocks, rock features, outcrops (Callan Bentley)
8. Sketchfab Rocks + fossils (University of Freiberg)
9. Sketchfab Geologic Block Models
10. Sketchfab Rocks (Gigpan by photographer Ron Schott)
11. Sketchfab Sedimentary Rock Structures (Art Willow)
12. Sketchfab Chemical and Biochemical Sedimentary Rocks (Art Willow)
13. Sketchfab Sedimentary Rock Structures (Art Willow)
14. Sketchfab Detrital Clastic Sedimentary Rocks (Art Willow)
15. Sketchfab Minerals (Art Willow)
16. Sketchfab Rocks and Minerals (Penn State-Harrisburg)

1. Fossils in Shropshire, UK
2. Fossils from the National Museum Wales, UK
3. Fossils from the Lapworth Museum of Geology, Birmingham, UK
4. Fossil models from an avocational paleontologist
5. Fossil models from the University of Freiberg, Germany
6. Assorted fossil models
7. Assorted fossil models from Digital Atlas of Ancient Life
8. Assorted fossil models from Alaska National Parks Geology

1. Why minerals have the colors they do by George Rossman
2. Thin section scans
3. Extensive resources on minerals, including photos, databases, articles, and more
4. Wide variety of resources on minerals, including photos, compositions
5. Easy to use mineral database
6. Online mineral quizzes
7. Rock, mineral, and fossil photos with explanations
8. Thin sections with some Becke line images
9. Mineral Identification Key
10. A draft module about thin sections, microscopes, and optical microscopy
11. Videos of minerals in thin section
12. Thin section scans
13. Virtual Microscopy for Geosciences
14. Virtual microscope for rocks in thin section
15. Optical crystallography
16. Earth Optics videos
17. Earth Optics Learning Goals
18. SERC: Igneous rocks
19. SERC: Geochemistry of mid-ocean ridge basalts
20. SERC: Central American volcanic arc
21. SERC: Cenozoic volcanic history of the western U.S.
22. SERC: Compositional diversity in volcanic suites
23. M&M Magma Chamber Exercise video
24. Mineralogy4Kids: Teaching resource for mineralogy and petrology for children

Teaching Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry – A Portal for Earth Education